Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) was one of the most celebrated architects of the Renaissance, so important that the term Palladian has been applied to a particular style of architecture that adheres to classical concepts. The wide spread of Palladianism was due partly to the private and public buildings he constructed in Italy, the designs of which were copied throughout Europe. But of even greater consequence was his remarkable magnum opus, -I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura-; translated into every major Western European language in the two centuries following its publication in 1570, it has...