_From a Picture by L. Biglieschi in the Collection of the Capitol at Rome._ Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._ ] Much therefore had been already done to facilitate the operations of a succeeding candidate for architectural distinction. Materials had been amassed, and it only remained for a comprehensive genius to analyse them more closely, to modify them in detail, and to enlarge, by the exercise of a chastened fancy, the range of their combinations. At this juncture the subject of our memoir commenced his professional career. Andrea Palladio was born at Vicenza, November 30, 1518. His parents are said to have been “in the middle rank of life;” in belief of which, Temanza discredits the traditionary account that he worked as a common mason at the Villa di Cricoli, and that the name ‘Palladio’ was bestowed upon him, as a kind of ennoblement, by his patron Trissino, who is said to have been his first architectural instructor. It is at least certain that, if Trissino taught him not, he assisted in stimulating his professional ardour. Vitruvius and Alberti appear to have been his early studies, and allusions are made to his proficiency in geometry and polite literature at the age of twenty-three. The knowledge which he derived from books, far from satisfying, prompted him to seek a deeper insight into the details and the principles of his art; and, during several visits to Rome, he employed himself in delineating from admeasurement the ancient remains of that city. Among the earliest testimonies to his growing fame, was the commission he received to make certain costly additions to the Basilica, or Hall of Justice, in his native town. The building, before alteration, seems to have been a dilapidated example of the Italian Gothic style. It was the opinion of Giulio Romano, who was also consulted on the subject, that whatever new work might be necessary to afford strength or supply convenience, the character of the old building should be strictly preserved; and the appropriate and unprejudiced idea of that architect merits quite as much praise as the realized design of his more fortunate competitor. But the romantic rage for the restored architecture of Pagan antiquity was too prevalent for the common sense of Giulio to find support; and the Græco-Roman arcades of Palladio were carried round the Gothic basilica, just as, under the same infatuation, the Corinthian portico of Inigo Jones was subsequently attached to the old Cathedral of St. Paul’s in London.