The Wedding at Cana
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- For other uses, see Marriage at Cana.
The Wedding at Cana |
Paolo Veronese, 1563 |
oil on canvas |
666 × 990 cm |
Louvre, Paris |
The Wedding at Cana (or The Wedding Feast at Cana) is a massive painting by the Italian painter, Paolo Veronese. It is currently on display in the Louvre in Paris.
Contents |
[edit] History
The painting depicts the wedding feast at Cana, a miracle story from the Christian New Testament. In the story Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding celebration in Cana, Galilee. Towards the end of the feast, when the wine was running out, Jesus commanded servants to fill jugs with water, which he turned into wine (his first miracle of seven).
The piece was commissioned in 1562 by the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore (located in Venice, Italy) and completed in fifteen months by the year 1563. It hung 2.5 metres from the floor in the San Giorgio Maggiore monastery for 235 years, until it was plundered by Napoleon in 1797, and shipped to Paris.
[edit] Painting Details
Though the painting is supposed to depict events in the ancient town of Cana, it is painted in a Renaissance style, with Doric and Corinthian columns surrounding an open courtyard. At the centre of the courtyard sits a group of musicians playing late Renaissance instruments (lutes and early strings). The artist painted himself in this area, dressed in a white tunic and holding a viola da gamba. The Ventitian painter Titian is seated opposite in red. Directly behind them, Jesus is seated with a halo around his head, surrounded by his twelve disciples (very common in Italian paintings of this time). Above Jesus, on an elevated walkway, several men butcher the meat of an unidentified animal. To their right another animal is also being brought to be butchered. Art critics generally think this animal is a lamb, considering Jesus is the sacrificed "Lamb of God", or Agnus Dei. The butchered lamb is therefore symbolical of his future sacrifice. Christ is exactly under the blade.Towards the bottom left part of the picture, there is a man pouring wine from a huge, ornate jug. Next to him stands a man studying a glass of wine. It should be noted that, though many of the characters in the painting are holding wine glasses, nobody appears to be intoxicated, but are healthily enjoying the feast.
This vertical axis is also highly symbolic. Above Christ, the Agnus Dei, a lamb is being butchered. Beneath Christ, musicians. Note that in front of the musicians there is a hourglass, which in art, is called a "vanity." It shows earthly pleasures such as music, but also with a reminder of death (the hourglass, the butchering).
It should also be noted that there are more than 130 figures in the picture, and not a single one is visibly speaking. This is because the painting was commissioned for a Benedictine Monastery, and silence in their refectory was strictly observed. The centre of the painting is dominated by a blue, open sky, important because it opened up the room where the painting was originally hung.
The common interpretation of Jesus' presence at the wedding is that he went by invitation. However, other scholars have suggested that as the son of a carpenter, this seems unlikely. For this reason, many suggest that the wedding at Cana may in fact have been Jesus' own wedding.[citation needed] Examination of the painting suggests that this may be an underlying theme of the artwork. Jesus is placed at the centre of the table, and significantly, on his right is a woman who, like Jesus, is also depicted with a halo.
More conservative viewers, believe this woman to be The Virgin Mary, Jesus' mother, who, in the Bible, was also present at the feast.[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
The figures in the painting are most likely enjoying dessert, as the food on the table is sugar, fruits and (according to at least one art curator at the Louvre) quince jam. Ironically it also appears as though the main course is being prepared (butchered animals). This further credits the theory that the animals are lambs, and their purpose is symbolic, not practical.
[edit] Sources
- Louvre visitor's guide, English version, 2004