Seite - 501 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Band 1

501The Neugebäude was a collective effort, to which many members of Maximilian ii’ entourage— including Strada—may have contributed. We don’t have written sources that confirm that Strada remained involved in the development of the project after this initial stage; but again, in view of Strada’s formal appointment as architect, his expertise and his tremendous collection of source material, it is very unlikely that this would not have been the case. Moreover, certain stylistic elements of the principal building of the Neugebäude do suggest that he remained the architect chosen to draft the new designs necessary when the Emperor decided to expand his project: chiefly the decision to connect the three separate pavilions by two huge and monumen- tal arcades, carried on a substructure containing two low but almost equally monumental halls. Galleries or loggias looking into a garden, sometimes interrupted or com- bined with pavilions or towers, were not rare in the Renaissance as such, and were found also outside of Italy. A very good example which is close to the Neugebäude in spirit is the walled private garden laid out in 1555–1556 as a separate entity beside the Château de Vallery [Fig. 9.94]. It was commissioned by Jacques d’Albon, Maréchal de Saint-André, favourite of King Henry ii of France, and designed by the king’s architect, Pierre Lescot.105 One side of the garden is closed off by an elegant arcade, flanked on either side by equally el- egant pavilions of two stories, provided with huge chimney’s and thus offering the possibility of enjoying the garden even in winter. These pavilions served as banqueting halls and could be used for musical performances, and probably also housed a choice collection of works of art. 105 Androuet Du Cerceau/Thomson 1988, pp. 108–117. Figure 9.94 Pierre Lescot, the private garden of the Château de Vallery, built 1555–1556; from Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, Les plus excellents bastiments de France, 1576.