Veronese

Name: Paolo Veronese

Nickname/Alias: changed name in Venice to: Paolo Caliari

Achievements: Great Italian painter

Born: 1528; Verona, Italy

Died: April 9, 1588; Venice, Italy (Aged about 60)

Field & Discipline: Art;  Painter

Language: Italian

Father: Gabriele Caliari

Mother: Catharina

Siblings: Francesco; Antonio; Benedetto

Spouse: Elena Badile

Children: Carletto; Gabriele

Education: Unknown

Major Work:

"Temptation of St. Anthony"

"Jupiter Expelling the Vices"

Paintings in San Sebastiano, Venice:

"La Belle Nani"

"Transfiguration"

Frescoes in Villa Maser:

"Marriage Feast at Cana"

"Adoration of the Magi"

Life & Times:

The youngest son of a stonecutter, Veronese displayed exceptional artistic talent at an early age and in 1542 became a pupil -- and shop assistant  -- of painter Antonio Badile.   A section of a Badile altarpiece, painted a year later,  is attributed to Veronese mainly because it is much more lively and colorful than Badile' s normal style.  Veronese's earliest known painting, a forceful "Portrait of a Young Man in Black,” dates from 1549-50, and is signed P. Caliari.

Veronese's first major individual commission came from architect Michele Sanmicheli, who requested two frescoed ceilings in Verona's Palazzo Canossa.  Ever experimenting, Veronese adopted the illusionist technique of [influenced by] Romano* -- whose work he probably saw in Mantua -- for the figure of Ganymede.

Around the same time, Veronese painted some small frescoes for Giuseppe da Porto, a nobleman who was recruiting artists from Verona for a villa that Italian architect [collaborated with] Palladio* was completing for him in Vicenza.  Veronese painted two full-length portraits of da Porto and his son.

In 1551 Sanmicheli hired him and two other artists to paint frescoes at the Villa La Soranza in Treville.  Veronese planned and painted the architectural settings for the monumental figures.  Also in 1551, he painted an altarpiece for a chapel in the church of San Francesco della Vigna in Venice.  For this painting, "Madonna Enthroned with Saints,” he copied the style of [influenced by] Titian*.

Although almost all major painters in Veronese's time were influenced by the Mannerists, Veronese was not.  His powerful altarpiece, "The Temptation of St. Anthony" reflected the influence of [influenced by] Michelangelo* and Correggio, whose work Veronese would have seen in the Palazzo del Te in Mantua. 

The influence of both these painters was also evident in "Jupiter Expelling the Vices,” which, unveiled in the Doge's Palace in Venice in 1553, turned out to be the most stupendous ceiling fresco Venetians had seen in two decades.  Veronese was immediately acclaimed an alternative to [a rival to] Tintoretto*, who, (while Titian was absent,) had become the predominant artist in the Venetian Republic.

The man who suggested the theme for "Jupiter" was Daniele Barbaro, a Venetian scholar and diplomat.  Once he bestowed his mark of approval on Veronese, the artist was overwhelmed with commissions.  One of these resulted in "Portrait of a Lady" (1555) -- better known as "La Bella Nani" -- considered one of Veronese's portrait masterpieces, and the finest he ever did of a woman.

A year after the success of "Jupiter,” Veronese began painting the sacristy ceiling and then the main ceiling of the monastery church of San Sebastiano.  The work included designing the entire organ complex with painted shutters.  He was given another commission for an altarpiece in the Cathedral of Montagnana, for which he produced a vast "Transfiguration" (1555-56).

In 1556, seven artists, including Veronese, were contracted to work on a series of round canvases for the ceiling of the Marciana Library, built by famed Venetian architect Jacopo Sansovino.  Titian was asked to judge the finished work and gave the prize to Veronese.  In 1558, as he did at San Sebastiano, Veronese designed the organ complex and painted shutters at the church that Sansovino attended: San Geminiano, on St. Mark's Square. 

He painted the soldier martyr, Saint Menna, in burnished armor and scarlet cloak with one foot over the painted architectural framework as if stepping outside it.  In the companion piece of John the Baptist, he painted an inquisitive Lamb of God with one front foot reaching over the painted framework.

Barbaro asked Veronese to decorate Villa Maser, which Palladio had finished for him in 1561.  Working within the beautifully proportioned rooms, Veronese opened up the ceilings with paintings of blue sky and the walls with illusionist landscapes.  Small touches such as the inclusion of the family's dogs and cats, a maid's brush, and portraits of Barbaro's wife and children added warmth and immediacy.

Veronese's most gargantuan commission was a mural for Palladio's refectory at San Giorgio Maggiore, the "Marriage Feast at Cana." (The monks asked for as many people in the fresco as possible, and Veronese obliged.)

In the early 1570s, Veronese ran into trouble with the Roman Catholic authorities.  Working on a "Last Supper,” a huge 42-foot-wide work for the refectory of the Dominican monastery of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Veronese proceeded in the same fashion as he had with the "Marriage of Cana.” 

But the religious climate had changed, and the work was seen as sacrilegious.  He was summoned before the Inquisition to explain why he had included such secular objects as a fool holding a parrot, a dog, and a man with a bleeding nose. Veronese offered to change the title to "Feast in the House of Levi" and the matter was settled. 

The 1570s were a prolific decade for Veronese.  Undeterred by his brush with the Inquisition, he painted another two splendid banquet scenes, "Feast of St. Gregory the Great" (1572) and "Feast in the House of Simon" (1572-3).  He also did four paintings for the new Cuccina family palace on the Grand Canal in Venice and (a masterpiece) the "Adoration of the Magi" for the church of San Silvestro (1573). 

Visitors to Venice were eager to sit for him, including English courtier and poet [painted] Sidney*.  When Titian died in 1576, foreign collectors such as the German emperor Rudolf II turned to Veronese to supply art work. 

Veronese also got commissions from [worked for] Philip II* of Spain.  But at this point in his life, he passed most of commissions to his workshop,  preferring to concentrate on work for the Doge's Palace in Venice.

Extra Connections: His use of color inspired 19th century painters such as  [influenced] Delacroix*, [influenced] Rubens*, [influenced] El Greco*, and [influenced] Cezanne*.

Assessment: A great innovative Renaissance painter.

Oneliner: Paolo Veronese,  major Renaissance painter

Bibliography:

• Rearick, W. R., The Art of Paolo Veronese, 1528-1588, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1988.