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The very words “palace” and “villa” have deep-rooted connotations in Italy, where they originated, that differ greatly from their use today.
Originating in the Palace of the Caesars on Palantine Hill the word PALATIUM was in early medieval times used to denote the residences of Popes, emperors and kings, in the same way it is used in England for royalty today. ...
In the same way from the palatial pleasure homes of the Roman emperors and patricians, in early medieval times, the word “villa” came to signify a country estate. ... Although the word “renaissance” had not yet been coined people were starting to believe they were living in a golden age:
“… for this century, like a golden age, has restored to light the liberal arts which
were almost extinct: grammar, poetry, rhetoric, painting, sculpture, architecture,
music, the anient singing of songs to the orphic lyre, and all this is in Florence. ... Renaissance architecture, as the words imply, was a deliberate revival of ideas and practices of the artists of the classical past and their glories could be seen in Rome or Verona where a great number of buildings still survived from Roman times. ... By the end of the 14th century Petrarch anticipated the humanist ideal of the country villa as a retreat for a man of letters. ... The renaissance man was at the same time warrior, diplomat and scholar.
Approximate Word count = 1142
Approximate Pages = 4.6
(250 words per page double spaced)
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