READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Andrea Palladio. Italian architect
A new exhibition celebrates Palladio’s architecture 500 years on
A
Vicenza is a pleasant, prosperous city in the Veneto, 60km west of Venice. Its grand families settled and farmed the area from the 16th century. But its principal claim to fame is Andrea Palladio, who is such an influential architect that a neoclassical style is known as Palladian. The city is a permanent exhibition of some of his finest buildings, and as he was born – in Padua, to be precise – 500 years ago, the International Centre for the Study of Palladio’s Architecture has an excellent excuse for mounting la grande Mostra, the big show
B
The exhibition has the special advantage of being held in one of Palladio’s buildings, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto. Its bold façade is a mixture of rustication and decoration set between two rows of elegant columns. On the second floor, the pediments are alternately curved or pointed, a Palladian trademark. The harmonious proportions of the atrium at the entrance lead through to a dramatic interior of fine fireplaces and painted ceilings. Palladio’s design is simple, clear and not over-crowded. The show has been organised on the same principles, according to Howard Burns, the architectural historian who co-curated it.
C
Palladio’s father was a miller who settled in Vicenza, where the young Andrea was apprenticed to a skilled stonemason. How did a humble miller’s son become a world-renowned architect? The answer in the exhibition is that, as a young man, Palladio excelled at carving decorative stonework on columns, doorways and fireplaces. He was plainly intelligent, and lucky enough to come across a rich patron, Gian Giorgio Trissino, a landowner and scholar, who organised his education, taking him to Rome in the 1540s, where he studied the masterpieces of classical Roman and Greek architecture and the work of other influential architects of the time, such as Donato Bramante and Raphael.
D
Burns argues that social mobility was also important. Entrepreneurs, prosperous from agriculture in the Veneto, commissioned the promising local architect to design their country villas and their urban mansions. In Venice, the aristocracy was anxious to co-opt talented artists, and Palladio has given the chance to design the buildings that have made him famous – the churches of San Giorgio Maggiore and the Redentore, both easy to admire because they can be seen from the city’s historical centre across a stretch of water.
E
He tried his hand at bridges – his unbuilt version of the Rialto Bridge was decorated with the large pediment and columns of a temple – and, after a fire at the Ducal Palace, he offered an alternative design which bears an uncanny resemblance to the Banqueting House in Whitehall in London. Since it was designed by Inigo Jones, Palladio’s first foreign disciple, this is not as surprising as it sounds.
F
Jones, who visited Italy in 1614, bought a trunk full of the master’s architectural drawings; they passed through the hands of Dukes of Burlington and Devonshire before settling at the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1894. Many are now on display at Palazzo Barbaran. What they show is how Palladio drew on the buildings of ancient Rome as models. The major theme of both his rural and urban building was temple architecture, with a strong pointed pediment supported by columns and approached by wide steps.
G
Palladio’s work for rich landowners alienates unreconstructed critics on the Italian left, but among the papers in the show are designed for cheap housing in Venice. In the wider world, Palladio’s reputation has been nurtured by a text he wrote and illustrated, “Quattro Libri dell’ Architettura”. His influence spread to St Petersburg and to Charlottesville in Virginia, where Thomas Jefferson commissioned a Palladian villa he called Monticello.
H
Vicenza’s show contains detailed models of the major buildings and is leavened by portraits of Palladio’s teachers and clients by Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto; the paintings of his Venetian buildings are all by Canaletto, no less. This is an uncompromising exhibition; many of the drawings are small and faint, and there are no sideshows for children, but the impact of harmonious lines and satisfying proportions is to impart in a viewer a feeling of benevolent calm. Palladio is history’s most therapeutic architect.
I
“Palladio, 500 Anni: La Grande Mostra” is at Palazzo Barbaran da Porto, Vicenza, until January 6th 2009. The exhibition continues at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, from January 31st to April 13th, and travels afterwards to Barcelona and Madrid.
Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1 The building where the exhibition is staged has been newly renovated
2 Palazzo Barbaran da Porto typically represent the Palladio’s design
3 Palladio’s father worked as an architect.
4 Palladio’s family refused to pay for his architectural studies
5 Palladio’s alternative design for the Ducal Palace in Venice was based on an English building.
7 The exhibition includes paintings of people by famous artists
Answer the questions below
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet
8 What job was Palladio training for before he became an architect?
9 Who arranged Palladio’s architectural studies?
10 Who was the first non-Italian architect influenced by Palladio?
11 What type of Ancient Roman buildings most heavily influenced Palladio’s work?
12 What did Palladio write that strengthened his reputation?
13 In the writer’s opinion, what feeling will visitors to the exhibition experience?
Answer
2. TRUE
3. FALSE
4. NOT GIVEN
5. FALSE
6. TRUE
7. TRUE
8. Stonemason
9. Gian Giorgio Trissino
10. Inigo Jones
11. Temple
12. Quattro Libri dell’ Architettura
13. benevolent calm
Solution to Reading Sample Answers
1Answer: Not given
Question type: True/False/Not given
Answer location: N/A
Answer explanation: There is no reference for the point where the renovation of buildings is made
2Answer: True
Question type: True/False/Not given
Answer location: Paragraph B, first four lines
Answer explanation: "The exhibition has the special advantage of being held in one of Palladio's buildings, Palazzo Barbaran da Porto. Its bold facade is a mixture of rustication and decoration set between two rows of elegant columns. On the second floor, the pediments are alternately curved or pointed, a Palladian trademark." This clearly suggests that the Palazzo Barbaran da Porto was made and designed by Palladio and the building represents his design and finesse.
3Answer: False
Question type: True/False/Not given
Answer location: Paragraph C, introductory line
Answer explanation "Palladio's father was a miller who settled in Vicenza, where the young Andrea was apprenticed to a skilled stonemason." This suggests that Palladio's father was not an architect but a miller.
4Answer: Not given
Question type: True/False/Not given
Answer location: N/A
Answer explanation: There is no reference made where the reference of Palladio's family refusing to pay for his architectural studies is made.
5Answer: False
Question type: True/False/Not given
Answer location: Paragraph E
Answer explanation: "He tried his hand at a bridges-his unbuilt version of the Rialto Bridge was decorated with the large pediment and columns of a temple – and, after a fire at the Ducal Palace, he offered an alternative design which bears an uncanny resemblance to the Banqueting House in Whitehall in London. Since it was designed by Inigo Jones, Palladio's first foreign disciple, this is not as surprising as it sounds." The reference made here is regarding the alternative designs he offered for the Ducal Palace that had a resemblance to Banqueting Hall (English Building) in London. However, it wasn't based on that, rather his foreign disciple was inspired by him and created the Banqueting Hall later.
6Answer: True
Question type: True/False/Not given
Answer location: Paragraph G, Introductory line
Answer explanation: "Palladio's work for rich landowners alienates unreconstructed critics on the Italian left, but among the papers in the show are designed for cheap housing in Venice."
7Answer: True
Question type: True/False/Not given
Answer location: Paragraph H, Introductory lines
Answer explanation: "Vicenza's show contains detailed models of the major buildings and is leavened by portraits of Palladio's teachers and clients by Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto; the paintings of his Venetian buildings are all by Canaletto, no less." This suggests that the exhibition at Vicenza includes the paintings of prominent artists.
8Answer: STONEMASON
Question type: Sentence completion
Answer location: Paragraph C, introductory line
Answer explanation: "Palladio's father was a miller who settled in Vicenza, where the young Andrea was apprenticed to a skilled stonemason." This suggests that Palladio was getting trained to become a stonemason when he was young.
9Answer: GIAN GIORGIO TRISSINO
Question type: Sentence completion
Answer location: Paragraph C, lines 4-8
Answer explanation: "He was plainly intelligent and lucky
enough to come across a rich patron, Gian Giorgio Trissino, a landowner and
scholar, who organized his education, taking him to Rome in the 1540s, where he
studied the masterpieces of classical Roman and Greek architecture and the work
of other influential architects of the time, such as Donato Bramante and
Raphael." This suggests that Palladio's education was arranged by Gian Giorgio
Trissino.
10Answer: INIGO JONES
Question type: Sentence completion
Answer location: Paragraph E, last two lines
Answer explanation: "Since it was designed by Inigo Jones, Palladio's first foreign disciple, this is not as surprising as it sounds." This suggests that Inigo Jones was his first foreign disciple.
11Answer: TEMPLE
Question type: Sentence completion
Answer location: Paragraph F, lines 4-7
Answer explanation: "What they show is how Palladio drew on the buildings of ancient Rome as models. The major theme of both his rural and urban building was temple architecture, with a strong pointed pediment supported by columns and approached by wide steps." This suggests that Palladio's architecture was inspired by the Temple architecture of ancient Rome.
12Answer: QUATTRO LIBRI DELL' ARCHITETTURA
Question type: Sentence completion
Answer location: Paragraph G, lines 2-4
Answer explanation: "In the wider world, Palladio's reputation has been nurtured by a text he wrote and illustrated, "Quattro Libri dell' Architettura"." This clearly states that the text written by Palladio named "Quattro Libri dell' Architettura" made him a well-known personality.
13Answer: BENEVOLENT CALM
Question type: Sentence completion
Answer location: Paragraph H, lines 3-6
Answer explanation: "This is an uncompromising exhibition; many of the drawings are small and faint, and there are no sideshows for children, but the impact of harmonious lines and satisfying proportions is to impart in a viewer a feeling of benevolent calm." This suggests that the visitors shall feel benevolence and calm upon visiting the exhibition.
