The Existence of Paolo Veronese
by Courtney Krause
Biography
Paolo Veronese was born in Verona, Italy in 1528. He died in April of 1588 in Venice, Italy. Veronese received almost all of his artistic training from Antonio Badile. He spent most of his life in Venice where he owned his own large workshop. Veronese was working most of the time, so his life was pretty busy. He also somehow managed to raise two sons, Carlo and Gabriele. Veronese's creations mostly consisted of fresco paintings, but he also did drawings, portraits, and decorative paintings. Three of his paintings were part of a group of paintings (actually consisted of four paintings), called the Four Allegories of Love. They were named Unfaithfulness, Scorn, and Happy Union. There are not many mentions of Veronese having patrons, although it does say that he worked for patrons. Veronese's art mostly relates to naturalism and humanism. He created artwork that used many subtle colors. Veronese used both light and dark tones, but he did not use vibrant or neon colors very often in his pieces. Almost all of his artwork had its focus on humans. Humanism is trying to strive to be the very best, and focusing on how you can improve yourself. A lot of his paintings suggested how humans should act or how they should be.
Unfaithfulness (Four Allegories of Love)
Veronese, Paolo. Unfaithfulness. Digital image. Flickrhivemind. Flickr, 4 Dec. 2015. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. <http://flickrhivemind.net/User/arthistory390/Timeline>.
Scorn (Four Allegories of Love)
Veronese, Paolo. Scorn. Digital image. The National Gallery. The National Gallery, 4 Dec. 2015. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paolo-veronese-scorn>.
Happy Union (Four Allegories of Love)
Veronese, Paolo. Happy Union. Digital image. The National Gallery. The National Gallery, 4 Dec. 2015. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paolo-veronese-happy-union>.
A Piece by Veronese
Respect
Paolo Veronese created an piece of art in 1575 of which he named Respect. Respect is only one piece of artwork from the Four Allegories of Love group. Today, these pieces are on the National Gallery (U.K.) website, and many other places in Italy (museums, art studios, etc.). Veronese mostly stuck to his common way of painting with gentle colors and tones. This piece of work is very significant because it shows the importance of respecting women, even when they are most vulnerable. Even when some people don't agree, Veronese still displays his opinion through his work. The piece shows a nude woman lying asleep in a bed, and a man close by. Cupid is standing in between them and leaning backwards towards the woman. The man is reaching his arm out, as if he lusts for her, and at the same time his body leans the other way like he is denying his wishes. Naturalism is probably the most prominent in the piece. It has all of the colors and tones that is normal for him to use, and there are a few textures going on as well. The scene is very realistic for people, and it is depicting exactly what is happening. It is not making the woman seem fake or falsifying her true self. It shows the event occurring in a natural form. I find this piece interesting because we get to see how the man is having internal struggles with himself. Many men now-a-days would immediately go after the vulnerable woman, but in the artwork it shows him respecting the woman. To see that he knows what is right and what is wrong, and that he has self control is very pleasing to me, and most likely other females as well. This specific piece, as well as the Four Allegories of Love group can be viewed online at the National Gallery (U.K.) website, or in Italy throughout museums and such.
Citations
"Paolo Veronese." Almanac of Famous People. Gale, 2011. Biography in Context.
Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
"Paolo Veronese." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.Veronese, Paolo. Respect. Digital image. The National Gallery. The National Gallery, 4 Dec. 2015. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paolo-veronese-respect>.