Paolo Veronese
By Kolby Tracey
Biography
- Born in Verona Italy in 1528
- Born the son of a stone cutter
- Started painting at an early age
- Commoner, but had relations with the upper class: business and casual
- He was respected
- Lived almost all his life as an artist
- He spent most of his life in Venice, Italy
- He received early training from Antonio Badile and Giovanni Caroto
- He was influenced by the works of Andrea Mantegna and Giulio Romano
- One of the most influential painters of the Venetian Renaissance
- Some of Veronese's paintings are The Marriage at Cana, Anointment of David, The Feast in The House of Levi, The Giustiniani Altarpieve of c. 1551, and The Decoration of the Palazzo Ducale
- Some of Veronese's patrons were Daniele and Marcantonio Barbaro, The Hieronymite Church of S. Sebastiano in Venice, and San Giorgio Maggiore
Marriage at Cana
Allegory of Virtue and Vice (The Choice of Hercules)
Mars and Venus United by Love
The Work
Feast in The House of Levi
- Created in 1573
- Commissioned for the Convent of San Giovanni e. Paolo to put in the place of a Titian painting that burned in a fire
- Today it is in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, Italy
- This painting is significant because on July 18th 1573, The Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition called Veronese to discuss some aspects they found to be disrespectful of the religious theme.
- In this painting, Paolo painted dogs, a cat, Huns, German soldiers, drunks and midgets in the same setting as Christ.
- Paolo Veronese expressed secularism as well as humanism(classicism) in this painting.
- This painting shows secular ideas through the "outcast" characters that were considered to be disrespectful. Veronese painted people that flawed the "perfect" picture of the religious dinner and this upset the church.
- This painting shows humanist characteristics through the architecture. The pillars and arches reflect those of ancient Greece and Rome.
- I find this piece so interesting because the people who commissioned the art, had such a problem with the abstract characters that they called in the painter himself to make him give reasoning. I also found it fascinating that Paolo Veronese believed his art praised god, not insulted him. He believed there was nothing offensive in his artwork and stood up to the Holy Tribunal.
Citations
"Paolo Veronese." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
"Paolo Veronese." Merriam Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1995. Biography in Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
NICHOLS, TOM. "Paolo Veronese." Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World. Ed. Jonathan Dewald. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004.Biography in Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Citation
Salomon, Xavier. "Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari) (1528–1588)". InHeilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vero/hd_vero.htm (November 2011)
http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/martin/art_law/feast_in_the_house_of_levi.htm