Plates 51 to 60 are plans and architectural sketches of the Pantheon. In the Fourth Book, Palladio reproduces the designs of a number of ancient Roman temples. The Third Book is concerned with streets, bridges, piazzas, and basilicas, most of which are of ancient Roman origin. Each plate gives a front view drawing of the building and the general floor plan. Shown and described are many of his villas in and near Venice and Vicenza (including the famous Villa Capra, or The Rotunda, the Thiene Palace, and the Valmarana Palace).

The Second Book deals with private houses and mansions, almost all of Palladio's own design. Palladio indicates the characteristic features of each order and supplies illustrations of various architectural details. The First Book is devoted to building materials and techniques and the five orders of architecture: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. The Four Books of Architecture offers a compendium of Palladio's art and of the ancient Roman structures that inspired him. 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 been one of the most influential books in the history of architecture. 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.

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.

Palladio the four books of architecture