Exterior view

In 1549 Palladio added two-storey open loggias wrapped around the fourteenth-century Palazzo della Ragione. Each bay of the loggias is composed of an arch flanked by lintels supported by columns. The motif of the arch flanked by lintels, although it was first used by Bramante and was popularised in Serlio’s book, has been called in English the Palladian motif since Palladio used it on the Basilica.