Paolo Veronese
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Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an
Italian Renaissance painter Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...
based in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
, known for extremely large
history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
s of religion and mythology, such as ''
The Wedding at Cana ''The Wedding Feast at Cana'' (''Nozze di Cana'', 1562–1563), by Paolo Veronese, is a representational painting that depicts the biblical story of the Marriage at Cana, at which Jesus miraculously converts water into red wine (John 2:1–11). ...
'' (1563) and ''
The Feast in the House of Levi ''The Feast in the House of Levi'' or ''Christ in the House of Levi'' is a 1573 oil painting by Italian painter Paolo Veronese and one of the largest canvases of the 16th century, measuring . It is now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. ...
'' (1573). Included with
Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...
, a generation older, and
Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...
, a decade senior, Veronese is one of the "great trio that dominated Venetian painting of the '' cinquecento''" and the
Late Renaissance Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy ...
in the 16th century.Rosand, 107 Known as a supreme colorist, and after an early period with
Mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
, Paolo Veronese developed a naturalist style of painting, influenced by Titian. His most famous works are elaborate narrative cycles, executed in a dramatic and colorful style, full of majestic architectural settings and glittering pageantry. His large paintings of biblical feasts, crowded with figures, painted for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially famous, and he was also the leading Venetian painter of ceilings. Most of these works remain ''
in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
'', or at least in Venice, and his representation in most museums is mainly composed of smaller works such as portraits that do not always show him at his best or most typical. He has always been appreciated for "the chromatic brilliance of his palette, the splendor and sensibility of his brushwork, the aristocratic elegance of his figures, and the magnificence of his spectacle", but his work has been felt "not to permit expression of the profound, the human, or the sublime", and of the "great trio" he has often been the least appreciated by modern criticism. Nonetheless, "many of the greatest artists ... may be counted among his admirers, including Rubens,
Watteau Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, as ...
,
Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...
,
Delacroix Delacroix is a French surname that derives from ''de la Croix'' ("of the Cross"). It may refer to: People * Caroline Delacroix (1883–1945), French-Romanian mistress of Leopold II of Belgium * Charles-François Delacroix (1741–1805), ...
, and
Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...
".Penny, 333


Life and work


Birth and names

Veronese took his usual name from his birthplace of
Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
, then the largest possession of Venice on the mainland. The census in Verona attests that Veronese was born sometime in 1528 to a stonecutter, or ''spezapreda'' in the
Venetian language Venetian, wider Venetian or Venetan ( or ) is a Romance language spoken natively in the northeast of Italy,Ethnologue mostly in the Veneto region, where most of the five million inhabitants can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often ...
, named Gabriele, and his wife Caterina. He was their fifth child. It was common for surnames to be taken from a father's profession, and thus Veronese was known as Paolo Spezapreda. He later changed his name to Paolo Caliari, because his mother was the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman called Antonio Caliari.Penny, 331 His earliest known painting is signed "P. Caliari F., "the first known instance in which he used this surname", and after using "Paolo Veronese" for several years in Venice, after about 1575 he resumed signing his paintings as "Paolo Caliari". He was often called "Paolo Veronese" before the last century to distinguish him from another painter from Verona, "Alessandro Veronese", now known as Alessandro Turchi (1578–1649).


Youth

By 1541, Veronese was apprenticed with Antonio Badile, who was later to become his father-in-law, and in 1544 was an apprentice of Giovanni Francesco Caroto; both were leading painters in Verona. 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. Although trained in the culture of
Mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
then popular in
Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...
, he soon developed his own preference for a more radiant palette. In his late teens he painted works for important churches in Verona, and in 1551 he was commissioned by the Venetian branch of the important
Giustiniani The House of Giustiniani is the name of a prominent Italian family which originally belonged to Venice, but also established itself in Genoa, and at various times had representatives in Naples, Corsica and in the islands of the Archipelago, where t ...
family to paint the altarpiece for their chapel in the church of
San Francesco della Vigna San Francesco della Vigna is a Roman Catholic church in the Sestiere of Castello in Venice, northern Italy. History Along with Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, this is one of two Franciscan churches in Venice. The site, originally a vineyard (''v ...
, which was then being entirely rebuilt to the design of
Jacopo Sansovino Jacopo d'Antonio Sansovino (2 July 1486 – 27 November 1570) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, best known for his works around the Piazza San Marco in Venice. These are crucial works in the history of Venetian Renaissance archi ...
. In the same year he worked on the decoration of the Villa Soranzo near
Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...
, with his fellow Veronese
Giovanni Battista Zelotti Giovanni Battista Zelotti (; 1526 – 28 August 1578) was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance, active in Venice and her mainland territories. He appears to have been born in Verona, then part of the Venetian mainland, and trained wit ...
and Anselmo Canneri; only fragments of the frescos remain, but they seem to have been important in establishing his reputation. The description by
Carlo Ridolfi Carlo Ridolfi (1594–1658) was an Italian art biographer and painter of the Baroque period. Biography Ridolfi was born in Lonigo near Vicenza. He was a pupil of the painter Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense). He painted a ''Visitation'' for the ...
nearly a century later mentions that one of the mythological subjects was ''The Family of Darius before Alexander'', the rare subject in Veronese's grandest treatment of secular history, now in the
National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
. In 1552 Cardinal
Ercole Gonzaga Ercole Gonzaga (23 November 1505 – 2 March 1563) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal. Biography Born in Mantua, he was the son of the Marquis Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, Francesco Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este, and nephe ...
, great-uncle of the ruling
Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua Guglielmo Gonzaga (24 April 1538 – 14 August 1587) was Duke of Mantua from 1550 to 1587, and of Montferrat from 1574 to 1587. He was the second son of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Margaret Palaeologina of Montferrat. In 1574, Montferr ...
, commissioned an altarpiece for
Mantua Cathedral Mantua Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale di San Pietro apostolo; Duomo di Mantova) in Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to Saint Peter. It is the seat of the Bishop of Mantua. History An initial structure probabl ...
(now
Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
to study the ceilings by
Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-centu ...
; it was a painter of ceiling frescos that he would initially make his mark in Venice, where he based himself permanently from the following year.


Venice

Veronese moved to Venice in 1553 after obtaining his first state commission, ceilings in fresco decorating the ''Sala dei Consiglio dei Dieci'' (the Hall of the
Council of Ten The Council of Ten ( it, Consiglio dei Dieci; vec, Consejo de i Diexe), or simply the Ten, was from 1310 to 1797 one of the major governing bodies of the Republic of Venice. Elections took place annually and the Council of Ten had the power to i ...
) and the adjoining ''Sala dei Tre Capi del Consiglio'' in the
Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace ( it, Palazzo Ducale; vec, Pałaso Dogal) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice, the supreme auth ...
, in the new rooms replacing those lost in the fire of 1547. His panel of ''Jupiter Expelling the Vices'' for the former is now in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
. He then painted a ''History of Esther'' in the ceiling for the church of San Sebastiano (1556–57). It was these ceiling paintings and those of 1557 in the Marciana Library (for which he was awarded a prize judged by Titian and Sansovino) that established him as a master among his Venetian contemporaries. Already these works indicate Veronese's mastery in reflecting both the subtle foreshortening of the figures of
Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...
and the heroism of those by
Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
.


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. Owing to its scattered composition and lack of focus, however, it was not his most successful refectory mural. In the late 1550s, during a break in his work for San Sebastiano, Veronese decorated the
Villa Barbaro Villa Barbaro, also known as the Villa di Maser, is a large villa at Maser in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It was designed and built by the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, with frescos by Paolo Veronese and sculptures by Al ...
in
Maser A maser (, an acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by stimulated emission. The first maser was built by Charles H. Townes, Ja ...
, a newly finished building by the architect
Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...
. The frescoes were designed to unite humanistic culture with Christian spirituality; wall paintings included portraits of the Barbaro family, and the ceilings opened to blue skies and mythological figures. Veronese's decorations employed complex perspective and ''
trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...
'', and resulted in a luminescent and inspired visual poetry.Rearick, page 10, 1998. The encounter between architect and artist was a triumph. The ''Wedding at Cana'', painted in 1562–1563, was also 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. The contract also specified that the painting should include as many figures as possible. There are a number of portraits (including those of Titian and Tintoretto, as well as a self-portrait of Veronese) staged upon a canvas surface nearly ten meters 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. In the refectory paintings, as in '' The Family of Darius before Alexander'' (1565–1570), 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. 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.Rearick, page 13, 1988. 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 a daughter and four sons. Also painted between 1565 and 1570 is his ''Madonna and Child with St. Elizabeth, the Infant St. John the Baptist, and St. Justina'' in the
Timken Museum of Art The Timken Museum of Art is a fine art museum, established in 1965 and located at 1500 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, close to the San Diego Museum of Art. History The groundwork for the museum was laid in 1951 when Walter ...
, San Diego. St. Justina, a patroness of Padua and Venice, is at the right with the Blessed Virgin Mother and the Christ child in the center. In contrast to Italian works of a century earlier the infant is rendered convincingly as an infant. What makes one stop and take notice in this painting is the infant's reaching out to St. Justina, since a baby of this age would normally limit his gaze to his mother. Completing the work is St. Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary and mother of St. John the Baptist, located on the left. The artist delicately balances the forms of the extended Holy Family and renders them using a superb balance of warm and cool colors.


''The Feast in the House of Levi''

In 1573 Veronese completed the commission for ''
The Feast in the House of Levi ''The Feast in the House of Levi'' or ''Christ in the House of Levi'' is a 1573 oil painting by Italian painter Paolo Veronese and one of the largest canvases of the 16th century, measuring . It is now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. ...
'', a last-supper painting for the rear wall of the refectory at the Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Castello, Venice. Originally titled ''The Last Supper'', the painting was to replace a Titian painting burnt in a fire; Veronese's oversized (5.55m x 12.80m) replacement depicted a Last Supper banquet scene that included German soldiers, dwarves, and animals – the human and animal exotica usual to Veronese's representational narratives. Artistically, ''The Feast in the House of Levi'' indicates Veronese's technical development in using intense and luminous colors for texture, attention to narrative coherence, the acute representation of human emotion, and the psychologically subtle interplay occurring among the characters who crowd the scene.Rearick, p. 14, 1988. Given the subject of the painting, the biblical Last Supper, the
humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
depictions of the characters lacked the piousness usual to Roman Catholic art depicting the Christ character and the events of his life; and the
Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
readily noticed Veronese's irreligiosity. By the 1570s, the theology of the
Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
had given legal authority to Roman Catholic doctrine in Venice, which was a new, political development for an artist such as Veronese. In the
Venetian republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
of the Late–Renaissance, for an artist, painting crowd scenes had acquired political ramifications regarding who and what appeared in a religious painting commissioned from him, regardless of the patron or patroness. A decade earlier, the Benedictine monks who commissioned ''
The Wedding at Cana ''The Wedding Feast at Cana'' (''Nozze di Cana'', 1562–1563), by Paolo Veronese, is a representational painting that depicts the biblical story of the Marriage at Cana, at which Jesus miraculously converts water into red wine (John 2:1–11). ...
'' (1563) had directed Veronese to freely include as many human figures as would fit in the banquet scene. In contrast, a decade later, Veronese encountered legal, religious constraints that determined the suitability (theological, political, sociological) of who and what he depicted in a painting—thus, on 18 July 1573, Veronese was summoned before the Venetian Holy Inquisition to explain the presence of what Church doctrine considered characters, animals, and indecorum extraneous to an image of the Last Supper of the Christ. The tribunal's interrogation of Veronese was cautionary, rather than punitive; political, rather than judicial; nonetheless, Veronese explained to the Inquisitiors that "we painters take the same liberties as poets and madmen" in telling a story. Although the Inquisition's tribunal ordered Veronese to repaint the last-supper scene, he opposed their remedy to his theological offences, yet was compelled to re-title the painting from the sacramental ''The Last Supper'' to ''The Feast in the House of Levi''. That an artist, such as Veronese, had successfully perdured against the Inquisition's implied accusation of
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
, indicated he had the discreet political support of a
patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
patron of the arts.


Assessment

An artist's biography of Paolo Veronese was included in the second edition of the ''
Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...
'' (1568), by
Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
, with improved coverage of the painters of the Venetian school. A fuller biography of Veronese had to await ''Le maraviglie dell’ Arte ovvero, Le vite degli Illustri Pittori Veneti and dello Stato'' (1648), by
Carlo Ridolfi Carlo Ridolfi (1594–1658) was an Italian art biographer and painter of the Baroque period. Biography Ridolfi was born in Lonigo near Vicenza. He was a pupil of the painter Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense). He painted a ''Visitation'' for the ...
, a compilation of the Venetian School painters. Ridolfi said that Veronese's painting of ''
The Feast in the House of Levi ''The Feast in the House of Levi'' or ''Christ in the House of Levi'' is a 1573 oil painting by Italian painter Paolo Veronese and one of the largest canvases of the 16th century, measuring . It is now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. ...
'' (1573) is "by far, the most important source for our knowledge of his art," because "it gave rein to joy, made beauty majestic, made laughter, itself, more festive."Rearick, page 14, 1988. In 2014, the art historian Charles Hope wrote of Veronese's strengths and weaknesses: "He is notable above all as a colorist who used a range of bright hues with a boldness unmatched in his time and scarcely equaled since", but because his use of color "was often calculated to create a harmonious overall effect rather than to single out the main protagonists", his paintings convey little narrative drama. According to Hope, "the effect is sumptuous, seductive but ultimately excessive and a little monotonous, rather like a visit to a patisserie." In ''Paintings in the Louvre'' (1987),
Lawrence Gowing Sir Lawrence Burnett Gowing (21 April 1918 – 5 February 1991) was an English artist, writer, curator and teacher. Initially recognised as a portrait and landscape painter, he quickly rose to prominence as an art educator, writer, and eventuall ...
’s modern assessment of Paolo Veronese’s artistic achievement is that:
The French had no doubts, as the critic
Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rem ...
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 Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
thought, or a most subtle and beautiful imaginative invention must remain a question for each age to answer for itself.


Gallery

File:Veronese.Marcus_Curtius01.jpg, ''The Sacrificial Death of Marcus Curtius'', c. 1550–1552 File: Paolo_Veronese_-_Juno_Showering_Gifts_on_Venetia_-_WGA24937.jpg, ''Juno Showering Gifts on Venetia'', c. 1554–1556, Doge's Palace File:Paolo_Veronese_-_Saturn_(Time)_and_Historia_-_WGA24908.jpg, ''Saturn (Time) and Historia'', Villa Barbaro, alt= File:Paolo_Veronese_-_Nobleman_in_Hunting_Attire_-_WGA24915.jpg, ''Nobleman in Hunting Attire'', Villa Barbaro File:Paolo_Veronese,_Allegory_of_Painting,_1560s.jpg, ''Allegory of Painting'', 1560s File:Paolo Veronese - San Girolamo penitente.jpg, ''Saint Jerome in the Desert'', c. 1584 File:Paolo Veronese - Lucretia - WGA24962.jpg, ''Lucretia'', 1580s File:Leda et le cygne par Paolo Veronese 1.jpg, ''Leda and the Swan'', c. 1585


Working practices

In addition to the ceiling creations and wall paintings, Veronese also produced altarpieces (''The Consecration of Saint Nicholas'', 1561–62, London's National Gallery, London, National Gallery), paintings on mythological subjects (''Venus and Mars'', 1578, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
), and portraits (''Portrait of a Lady'', 1555,
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
). A significant number of compositional sketches in pen, ink and wash, figure studies in chalk, and
chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...
modelli A modello (plural modelli), from Italian, is a preparatory study or model, usually at a smaller scale, for a work of art or architecture, especially one produced for the approval of the commissioning patron. The term gained currency in art circl ...
and
ricordi Ricordi may refer to: People *Giovanni Ricordi (1785–1853), Italian violinist and publishing company founder *Giulio Ricordi (1840–1912), Italian publisher and musician Music *Casa Ricordi, an Italian music publishing company established in ...
survive. He headed a family workshop, including his younger brother
Benedetto Benedetto is a common Italian name, the equivalent of the English name Benedict. Notable people named Benedetto include: People with the given name * Benedetto Accolti (disambiguation), several people * Benedetto Aloi (1935–2011), American ...
(1538–1598) as well as his sons Carlo and
Gabriele Gabriele is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name Surname *Al Gabriele, American comic book artist *Angel Gabriele (1956–2016), American comic book artist * Corrado Gabriele (born 1966), Italian polit ...
, and his nephew
Luigi Benfatto Luigi Benfatto known as Alvise dal Friso (1551–1611) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period. He was born at Verona, was the nephew and pupil of Paolo Veronese. He painted Glory of the saint for the church of St. Nicholas and pict ...
(also called dal Friso; 1559–1611), that remained active for a decade or so after his death in Venice in 1588, signing their work "Haeredes Pauli" ("Heirs of Paolo"), and continuing to use his drawings. According to
Nicholas Penny Sir Nicholas Beaver Penny (born 21 December 1949) is a British art historian. From 2008 to 2015 he was director of the National Gallery in London. Early life Penny was educated at Shrewsbury School before he studied English at St Catharine ...
, "The role of the workshop seems to have increased steadily, and after 1580 it is rare that we can feel confident that Veronese's was the sole hand involved". Among his pupils were his contemporary
Giovanni Battista Zelotti Giovanni Battista Zelotti (; 1526 – 28 August 1578) was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance, active in Venice and her mainland territories. He appears to have been born in Verona, then part of the Venetian mainland, and trained wit ...
and later,
Giovanni Antonio Fasolo Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (1530–1572) was a late Renaissance Italian painter of the Venetian school, active in Vicenza and surroundings. A native of Mandello del Lario, he appears to have trained in the Venice studio of Paolo Veronese. By 1557, ...
, Sigismondo de Stefani, and Anselmo Canneri. The Caliari family continued and another Paolo Caliari published the first
monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
on his ancestor in 1888. Veronese was one of the first painters whose drawings were sought by collectors during his lifetime.


Selected works


Veronese in popular culture

* The
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
sketch "
The Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
" from ''
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl ''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' is a 1982 British concert comedy film directed by Terry Hughes (with the film segments by Ian MacNaughton) and starring the Monty Python comedy troupe (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric ...
'' is based on the story of Veronese's painting ''
The Feast in the House of Levi ''The Feast in the House of Levi'' or ''Christ in the House of Levi'' is a 1573 oil painting by Italian painter Paolo Veronese and one of the largest canvases of the 16th century, measuring . It is now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. ...
''. * An imaginary Veronese painting called ''La Morte dil Cesare'' is prominently featured in a story arc of the award-winning comics series '' 100 Bullets''.


Veronese in religion

* In the Ascended Master Teachings of
Elizabeth Clare Prophet Elizabeth Clare Prophet (''née'': Wulf, a.k.a. Guru Ma) (April 8, 1939 – October 15, 2009) was an American spiritual leader, author, orator, and writer. In 1963 she married Mark L. Prophet (after ending her first marriage), who had founded ...
, Paolo Veronese is regarded as one of the earthly embodiments of one of the ascended masters, a group of beings guiding the spiritual destiny of the planet Earth and its people. Specifically, he is regarded as the Master
Paul the Venetian Paul the Venetian or the Venetian Chohan is one of the "Masters of the Ancient Wisdom" in the teachings of Theosophy and is regarded as one of the ascended masters in the Ascended Master Teachings (also collectively called the ''Great White Brothe ...
, Master of the Third Ray.Prophet, Mark L., and Prophet, Elizabeth Clare, (2003
''The Masters and Their Retreats''
Summit University Press. p. 274. .


See also

* Holy Family with Saint Catherine and Saint John the Baptist *
List of Orientalist artists This is an incomplete list of artists who have produced works on Orientalist subjects, drawn from the Islamic world or other parts of Asia. Many artists listed on this page worked in many genres, and Orientalist subjects may not have formed a m ...
*
Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...
* Portrait of Iseppo da Porto and his son Adriano


Notes


References

* *Ilchman, Frederick, ''et al''., ''Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto: Rivals in Renaissance Venice'', MFA Publications, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2009, * Penny, Nicholas, National Gallery Catalogues (new series): ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume II, Venice 1540–1600'', 2008, National Gallery Publications Ltd, *Rearick, W. R., ''The Art of Paolo Veronese 1528–1588'', National Gallery of Art, 1988 * Rosand, David, ''Painting in Sixteenth-Century Venice: Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto'', 2nd ed. 1997, Cambridge University Press, * Salomon, Xavier F., ''Veronese'', National Gallery London, 2014, * Watson, Peter, ''Wisdom and Strength: The Biography of a Renaissance Masterpiece'', Hutchinson, 1990,


External links

* * Art view; Homage to a Gentleman of Veron


Veronese biography on Web Gallery of Art
with link to images of many of his paintings

– Biographical article in the 1911 ''
Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' *
Gallery at Museum Syndicate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veronese, Paolo 1528 births 1588 deaths 16th-century Venetian people 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Roman Catholics Italian Renaissance painters Mannerist painters Painters from Venice Painters from Verona Sibling artists Trompe-l'œil artists Catholic painters