Paolo Veronese

Paolo Veronese

Self portrait
Born 1528
Died 1588
Nationality Italian
Field Painting
Movement Renaissance

Paolo Veronese (1528 – 19 April 1588) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi. He adopted the name Paolo Cagliari or Paolo Caliari,[1] and became known as "Veronese" from his birthplace in Verona.

Veronese, Titian, and Tintoretto constitute the triumvirate of pre-eminent Venetian painters of the late Renaissance (16th century). Veronese is known as a supreme colorist, and for his illusionistic decorations in both fresco and oil. His most famous works are elaborate narrative cycles, executed in a dramatic and colorful Mannerist style, full of majestic architectural settings and glittering pageantry. His large paintings of biblical feasts executed for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially notable. His brief testimony with the Inquisition is often quoted for its insight into contemporary painting technique.

Contents

Life and work

Youth

The census in Verona attests that Veronese was born some time in 1528 to a stonecutter named Gabriele, and his wife Catherina. By the age of fourteen Veronese apprenticed with the local master Antonio Badile, and perhaps with Giovanni Francesco Caroto. An altarpiece painted by Badile in 1543 includes striking passages that were most likely the work of his fifteen-year-old apprentice; Veronese's precocious gifts soon surpassed the level of the workshop, and by 1544 he was no longer residing with Badile.[2] Though trained in the culture of Mannerism then popular in Parma, he soon developed his own preference for a more radiant palette.[3]

Venice

He then moved briefly to Mantua in 1548 (where he created frescoes in that city's Duomo) before arriving in Venice in 1553. His first Venetian commission was a Sacra Conversazione from San Francesco della Vigna (c.1552). In 1553, he obtained his first state commission, the fresco decoration of the Sala dei Cosiglio dei Dieci (the Hall of the Council of Ten) and the adjoining Sala dei Tre Capi del Consiglio. He then painted a History of Esther in the ceiling for the church of San Sebastiano. It was his ceiling paintings for San Sebastiano, the Doge's Palace, and the Marciana Library, (the last for which Titian awarded him a prize), that established him as a master among his Venetian contemporaries.[4] Already these works indicate Veronese's mastery for referencing both the subtle foreshortening of the figures of Correggio and the heroism of those by Michelangelo.[5]

Villa Barbaro and refectory paintings

By 1556 Veronese was commissioned to paint the first of his monumental banquet scenes, the Feast in the House of Simon, which would not be concluded until 1570. However, owing to its scattered composition and lack of focus, it was not his most successful refectory mural.[6] In the late 1550s, during a break in his work for San Sebastiano, Veronese decorated the Villa Barbaro in Maser, a newly-finished building by the architect Andrea Palladio. The frescoes were designed to unite humanistic culture with Christian spirituality; wall paintings included portraits of the Barbaro family,[7] and the ceilings opened to blue skies and mythological figures. Veronese's decorations employed complex perspective and trompe l'oeil, and resulted in a luminescent and inspired visual poetry.[8] The encounter between architect and artist was a triumph.[9]

The Wedding at Cana, painted in 1562–1563, was also a collaboration with Palladio. It was commissioned by the Benedictine monks for the San Giorgio Maggiore Monastery,on a small island across from Saint Mark's, in Venice. The contract insisted on the huge size (to cover 66 square meters), and that the quality of pigment and colors should be of premium quality. For example, the contract specified that the blues should contain the precious mineral lapis-lazuli.([10]) The contract also specified that the painting should include as many figures as possible. There are three hundred portraits ( including portraits of Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese himself) staged upon a canvas surface nearly ten metres wide. The scene, taken from the New Testament Book of John, II, 1–11, represents the first miracle performed by Jesus, the making of wine from water, at a marriage in Cana, Galilee. The foreground celebration, a frieze of figures painted in the most shimmering finery, is flanked by two sets of stairs leading back to a terrace, Roman colonnades, and a brilliant sky.[8]

In the refectory paintings, as in The Family of Darius before Alexander (1565–1570) [1], Veronese arranged the architecture to run mostly parallel to the picture plane, accentuating the processional character of the composition. The artist's decorative genius was to recognize that dramatic perspectival effects would have been tiresome in a living room or chapel, and that the narrative of the picture could best be absorbed as a colorful diversion.[11] These paintings offer little in the representation of emotion; rather, they illustrate the carefully composed movement of their subjects along a primarily horizontal axis. Most of all they are about the incandescence of light and color.[12] The exaltation of such visual effects may have been a reflection of the artist's personal well-being, for in 1565 Veronese married Elena Badile, the daughter of his first master, and by whom he would eventually have four sons and a daughter.[12]

The House of Levi

In 1573 Veronese completed the painting which is now known as the Feast in the House of Levi for the rear wall of the refectory of the Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo. The painting was originally intended as a depiction of the Last Supper, designed to replace a canvas by Titian that had been lost in a fire. It measured more than five metres high and over twelve metres wide, depicted another Venetian celebration and was a culmination of his banquet scenes, which this time included not only the Last Supper, but also German soldiers, comic dwarves, and a variety of animals; in short, the exotica which were standard to his narratives.[13] Even as Veronese's use of color attained greater intensity and luminosity, his attention to narrative, human sentiment, and a more subtle and meaningful physical interplay between his figures became evident.[14]

That the subject was indeed a Last Supper, and then some, was not lost on the Inquisition. A decade earlier the monks who commissioned the Wedding at Cana had requested that the artist squeeze the maximum number of figures into the painting, but the Counter-Reformation had since exerted its influence in Venice, and in July 1573 Veronese was summoned to explain the inclusion of extraneous and indecorous details in the painting.[15]

The tone of the hearing itself was cautionary rather than punitive; Veronese explained that "we painters take the same liberties as poets and madmen", and rather than repaint the picture, he simply and pragmatically retitled it to the less sacramental version by which it is known today.[16]

Other works

In addition to the ceiling creations and wall paintings, Veronese also produced altarpieces (The Consecration of Saint Nicholas, 1561–2, London's National Gallery [2]), paintings on mythological subjects (Venus and Mars, 1578, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art [3]), and portraits (Portrait of a Lady, 1555, Louvre). A significant number of compositional sketches in pen, ink and wash, figure studies in chalk, and chiaroscuro modelli and ricordi are in circulation. Veronese was one of the first painters whose drawings were sought by collectors during his lifetime.[17]

He headed a family workshop, including his brother Benedetto, sons Carlo and Gabriele, that remained active after his death in Venice in 1588. Among his pupils were his contemporary Giovanni Battista Zelotti and later Giovanni Antonio Fasolo and Luigi Benfatto (also called dal Friso; 1559–1611).[18]

Assessment

In 1648 Carlo Ridolfi wrote of the Feast in the House of Levi that it "gave rein to joy, made beauty majestic, made laughter itself more festive."[14]

A modern assessment of Veronese's achievement by Sir Lawrence Gowing reads:

The French had no doubts, as the critic Théophile Gautier wrote in 1860, that Veronese was the greatest colorist who ever lived—greater than Titian, Rubens, or Rembrandt because he established the harmony of natural tones in place of the modeling in dark and light that remained the method of academic chiaroscuro. Delacroix wrote that Veronese made light without violent contrasts, "which we are always told is impossible, and maintained the strength of hue in shadow.

This innovation could not be better described. Veronese's bright outdoor harmonies enlightened and inspired the whole nineteenth century. He was the foundation of modern painting. But whether his style is in fact naturalistic, as the Impressionists thought, or a more subtle and beautiful imaginative invention must remain a question for each age to answer for itself.[19]

Anthology of works

Anthology of Works
Title Created Medium Size (cm) Owner City
St. Anthony Tempted by the Devil (1552–1553) – Oil on canvas 198 × 151 Musée des Beaux-Arts Caen
Zeus ousting the Vices (1553?) – Oil on canvas 650 × 330 Louvre Paris
St. Mark Crowning the Virtue (1554?) – Oil on canvas 330 × 317 Louvre Paris
Coronation of the Virgin (1555) – Oil on canvas  ? San Sebastiano Venice
Portrait of a Woman (1555–1560?) – Oil on canvas 119 × 103 Louvre Paris
Annunciation (1555?) – Oil on canvas 193 × 291 Uffizi Florence
Jesus among the Doctors in the Temple (1558) – Oil on canvas 236 × 430 Prado Madrid
Assumption of the Virgin (1558?) – Oil on canvas 340 × 455 San Giovanni e Paolo Venice
The Marriage at Cana (1560?) – Oil on canvas 207 × 457 Gemäldegalerie Dresden
Portrait of a Man (1560?) – Oil on canvas 120 × 102 Museum of Fine Arts Budapest
Bacchus Giving Wine to Men (1560–1561) – Fresco  ?? Villa Barbaro, Maser  ??
Giustiniana Giustiniani with Her Nurse (1560–1561) – Fresco  ?? Villa Barbaro, Maser  ??
Venus and Adonis (1561+) – Oil on canvas 123 × 174 Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Augsburg
Virgin in Glory with Saints (1562?) – Oil on canvas  ?? San Sebastiano Venice
St. John the Baptist Preaching (1562?) – Oil on canvas  ?? Galleria Borghese Rome
Madonna Enthroned with Saints (1562?) – Oil on canvas 339 × 191 Gallerie dell'Accademia Venice
The Marriage at Cana (1563) – Oil on canvas 666 × 990 Louvre Paris
Petrobelli altarpiece  ??  ??  ??  ??  ??
Holy Family and Saints (San Zaccaria Altapiece; 1564) 1564 – Oil on canvas 328 × 188 Gallerie dell'Accademia Venice
Martyrdom of St. George (1564) – Oil on canvas 426 × 305 San Giorgio in Braida Verona
Sts. Mark and Marcellian Being Led to Martyrdom (1565) – Oil on canvas  ?? San Sebastiano Venice
Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (1565) – Oil on canvas  ?? San Sebastiano Venice
The Family of Darius before Alexander (1565–1570) – Oil on canvas 236.2 × 475.9 National Gallery London
Portrait of Daniele Barbaro (1565–1567) – Oil on canvas 121 × 105.5 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
The Allegory of Love: Unfaithfulness (1570) – Oil on canvas 191 × 191 National Gallery London
The Resurrection of Christ (1570?) – Oil on canvas 136 × 104 Gemäldegalerie Dresden
Die Madonna mit der Familie Cuccina (1570?) – Oil on canvas 167 × 416 Gemäldegalerie Dresden
The Finding of Moses (1570?–1575?) – Oil on canvas  ?? Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna
Bathsheba at Bath (1575?) – Oil on canvas 191 × 224 Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon Lyon
Portrait of a Sculptor (1550?–1585?) – Oil on canvas 110.5 × 89 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York
Battle of Lepanto (1572?) – Oil on canvas 169 × 137 Gallerie dell'Accademia Venice
Feast of St Gregory the Great (1572) – Oil on canvas  ?? Monte Berico, Vicenza Vicenza
The Feast in the House of Levi (1573) – Oil on canvas 555 × 1,280 Gallerie dell'Accademia Venice
The Martyrdom of St. Justine (1573?) – Oil on canvas 103 × 113 Uffizi Florence
Ceres Renders Homage to Venice (1575) – Oil on canvas 309 × 328 Gallerie dell'Accademia Venice
Mystical Marriage of St Catherine (1575?) – Oil on canvas 337 × 241 Gallerie dell'Accademia Venice
The Allegory of Love: Unfaithfulness (1575?) – Oil on canvas 187 × 188 National Gallery London
Venus, Mars and Love with a Horse (1575?) – Oil on canvas 47 × 47 Galleria Sabauda Turin
Pietà (1576–1582) – Oil on canvas 147 × 115 The Hermitage St. Petersburg
The Resurrection of Christ (1578?) – Oil on canvas 273 × 156 The Chapel, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital London
Mars and Venus United by Love (1578?) – Oil on canvas 205.7 × 161 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York
Hermes, Herse and Aglaulus (1576?–1584?) – Oil on canvas 232.4 × 173 Fitzwillian Museum Cambridge, UK
The Rape of Europa (1580) – Oil on canvas 240 × 303 Sala dell'Anticollegio, Doge's Palace Venice
Venus and Adonis (1580) – Oil on canvas 212 × 191 Prado Madrid
Christ and the Centurion (1580?) – Oil on canvas 99.2 × 130.8 Toledo Museum of Art Toledo, OH
Lucretia (1580s) – Oil on canvas 109 × 90.5 Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna
Christ in the Garden Supported by an Angel (1580?) – Oil on canvas 80 × 108 Pinacoteca di Brera Milan
St. Anthony Preaching to the Fish (1580?) – Oil on canvas  ?? Galleria Borghese Rome
The Vision of St. Helena (1580?) – Oil on canvas 166 × 134 Pinacoteca Vaticana Rome
Allegory of Wisdom and Strength (1580?) – Oil on canvas 214.6 × 167 Frick Collection New York
Judith and Holofernes (1580?) – Oil on canvas 195 × 176 Galleria di Palazzo Rosso Genoa
The People of Myra Welcoming St. Nicholas (1582?) – Oil on canvas diameter: 198 Gallerie dell'Accademia Venice
Apotheosis of Venice (1585) – Oil on canvas 904 × 579 Doge's Palace Venice
The Conversion of Saint Pantaleimon (1587) –  ??  ?? San Pantalon Venice
Portrait of Agostino Barbarigo –  ?? Oil on canvas 60 × 48 Museum of Fine Arts Budapest
Baptism and Temptation of Christ –  ?? Oil on canvas 245 × 450 Pinacoteca di Brera Milan
Portrait of a Venetian Woman (La Bella Nani) –  ?? Oil on canvas 117.3 × 100.8 Alte Pinakothek Munich
Susanna in the Bath –  ?? Oil on canvas 198 × 198 Louvre Paris
Noli me tangere –  ?? Oil on canvas  ?? Museum of Grenoble Grenoble
Sitting dog –  ?? Oil on canvas 44 × 82 National Gallery Oslo

Veronese in popular culture

Veronese in religion

Notes

  1. ^ Rearick, W. R.: The Art of Paolo Veronese 1528–1588, page 20. National Gallery of Art, 1988. His earliest known painting is signed "P. Caliari F.," the first known instance in which he used this surname, which he seems to have adopted, since his parents appear not to have had one.
  2. ^ Rearick, page 20, 1988.
  3. ^ Bussagli, Marco: "The XVI Century", Italian Art, page 206. Giunti Gruppo Editoriale, 2000.
  4. ^ Dunkerton, Jill, et al.: Durer to Veronese: Sixteenth-Century Painting in the National Gallery, page 125. National Gallery Publications, 1999.
  5. ^ Rearick, page 50, 1998.
  6. ^ Rearick, page 75, 1988.
  7. ^ The Portrait of Daniele Barbaro, painted 1566–67, entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in 1952. Veronese: Gods, Heroes and Allegories, De Vecchi, Pierluigi, pages 104–5. Rizzoli, 2004.
  8. ^ a b Rearick, page 10, 1998.
  9. ^ Bussagli, page 207, 2000.
  10. ^ Louvre 1993
  11. ^ Dunkerton, et al., page 111, 1999.
  12. ^ a b Rearick, page 13, 1988.
  13. ^ Dunkerton, et al., page 30, 1999.
  14. ^ a b Rearick, page 14, 1988.
  15. ^ Rearick, page 104, 1988.
  16. ^ Rearick, page 104, 1988. Transcript of the hearing
  17. ^ Eisler, Colin: Masterworks in Berlin: A City's Paintings Reunited, page 270. Little, Brown and Company, 1996.
  18. ^ *Bernasconi, Cesare (1864). Painting Studi sopra la storia della pittura italiana dei secoli xiv e xv e della scuola pittorica veronese dai medi tempi fino tutto il secolo xviii. Googlebooks. pp. 337–338, 343. 
  19. ^ Gowing, Lawrence: Paintings in the Louvre, page 262. Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1987.

References

External links