I was finishing the illustration of Daniele Barbaro's work, the translation and commentary of Vitruvius's De Architectura, when I was introduced to Nicolò and Alvise Foscari. 
 
I had not yet built anything in Venice. 
 
The Doge's nephews asked me to design the villa that they would quickly reach by boat, from Cà Foscari on the Grand Canal and from their other properties.
 
Two years later it would have been the centenary of the great doge Francesco Foscari: I immediately began sketching the features of a majestic building ...