Page - 503 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 1

503The Neugebäude not considered antique, unless used to stress the corners of a (section of) a facade, in particular town gates and triumphal arches, such as the arch of the Sergii at Pola (Pula) illustrated in Serlio’s Third Book [Fig. 9.97]. In his Extraor- dinario libro Serlio provides several designs for such portals [Fig. 9.98]. But he gives only a few examples where coupled columns are used to articulate a log- gia or porticus. In his regole generale he motivates such lavish use of columns, where ‘ornament exceeds necessity’, as a means of expressing the wealth of the patron [Fig. 9.99]; typical for his practical approach, he presents another example as a good solution to dispose of any surplus columns accidentally left over [Fig. 9.100]. Using coupled columns or pilasters to articulate a complete (section) of a facade is found occasionally in Raphael’s circle: in the Palazzo Caprini and the Palazzo Stati-Maccarani mentioned above [Figs. 7.14 and 7.18] and, most tell- ingly in this context, in the central section of the facade of Charles v’s Palace at Granada [Fig. 5.36]. A rare instance outside of Raphael’s immediate circle is Sanmicheli’s Palazzo Canossa in Verona, begun in 1527. Coupled columns occasionally were used also in French sixteenth century architecture, notably in the courtyard of the Hôtel d’Assézat in Toulouse (Nico- las Bachelier, 1552–1556), and in the ‘gallerie dans la court’ of the Château de Verneuil, built from about 1558 onward for Philippe de Boulainvilliers, comte de Figures 9.97–9.98 Sebastiano Serlio: the Arch of the Sergii at Pola (Pula), from the Terzo Libro, 1544, and a design for a rustic Tuscan entrance portal, nr. iii from the Libro extraordinario, 1551.