Paolo Veronese: paintings and their descriptions

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The Italian artist Paolo Veronese became one of the most prominent representatives of the art of the fourteenth century. His works are known all over the world, they have inspired and continue to inspire followers. A detailed analysis of his biography with the chronology of the appearance of the canvases will help to get to know the paintings created by Veronese.

Early years

The future creator of the Late Renaissance was born in Verona, in the family of the famous sculptor Gabriele Cagliari. It is not surprising that artistic talents woke up in the boy. Paolo was trained by the Verona painter Antonio Badile, who was also his uncle. By the age of twenty, Veronese began independent work. At first he was engaged in the creation of oil compositions and frescoes - today they have been preserved in Villa Emo. His talent as a colorist and decorator was revealed to the full in the process of creating murals for Soranzo in the early 1550s. In his work, there is an understanding of the techniques of Raphael, Michelangelo, Correggio and Parmigianino, which greatly inspired Veronese. Paolo's paintings continue the tradition of the Renaissance, they are filled with cheerful festivity, which will become the hallmark of hisworks in the future.

The road to recognition

In 1551, Paolo Cagliari moved to Venice, where he received the nickname "Veronese". The paintings of Antonio Badile, from whom he studied, did not become a serious school. A real contribution to his work was made by trips to Mantua, where Paolo examined the frescoes by Giulio Romano and the paintings in the Camera degli Sposi. It was there that the talented young man drew inspiration. Paolo Veronese, whose paintings are filled with incredible harmony, complex poses, expression of gestures and angles, was able to reach the pinnacle of skill without serious training, and soon after moving he received a serious order. The Veronese - and the nickname "Veronese" is translated that way - had to paint the plafonds for the halls of the Council of Ten in the Doge's Palace on a government commission. The resulting work contributed to the recognition of the painter. The paintings created by Veronese on the central and corner plafonds revealed his talent in all its splendor. The huge mural "Jupiter Casting Out the Vices" was subsequently taken to Paris by Napoleon, and in the allegorical composition "Old Age and Youth" the artist managed to show his individuality without traces of anyone's influence.

Deserved Success

Clafonds glorified Paolo Veronese. The paintings from the Doge's Palace were so good that an even larger order soon followed: he was to paint the monastery church of San Sebastiano. Veronets worked on creating amazing stories for almost ten years and fell in love with this place so much that he made a will ordering him to be buried there. After his death, the artist's relatives carried out his will. The uniqueness of the order is that usually church buildings were decorated with only small frescoes, which differs markedly from the scale of Veronese's painting. The artist of the painting "The Coronation of Mary in the Sacristy", located in the central nave, and the creator of the huge plafonds depicting stories from the life of Esther and Mordecai, pioneered such comprehensive projects for the Catholic Church.

First Private Orders

The illustrious Veronese, the painter of paintings and plafonds for the Catholic Cathedral and a talented master of frescoes, was in demand not only from the state. In 1560, Paolo received a private commission from Daniele Barbaro, who invited him to design a villa near Maser. This original building by Andrea Palladio was made in the form of a Latin cross (main hall), around which smaller rooms are located. Each room was decorated with illusory niches and columns, which Veronese had to decorate. He brilliantly coped with the task, combining fictional stories with the real life of the Barbaro family in his works.

Gospel Series

In the 60s, Veronese's paintings with titles associated with the Feasts became the most important works. This is a religious series based on gospel texts that tells about the Lord's Meals. A secular painter, devoid of a penchant for religious pathos, Veronese did an excellent job with colossal canvases, the likes of which have never been seen before.history of Venetian art. A painting titled Marriage at Cana, now in the Louvre, depicted the Lord's Supper as a grand open-air feast, with balustrades and porticos around the edges and a huge table crowded with guests. In the center are Mary and Christ, indicated by halos. An allegory is also hidden in the essence of the canvas: the Venetian holidays have always been celebrated with unusual pomp. The role of the painting created by Veronese with the names "The Last Supper" or "The Feast in the House of Levi" is very significant - it completes the cycle. The double name is explained simply: the finished picture caused displeasure with a too secular interpretation of the event from the Bible. Veronese was summoned to the inquisitors, who were outraged by the depiction of the Last Supper. The artist compromised and gave the painting a second name - "Feast in the House of Levi", removing Magdalene from the canvas.

The Last Supper Story

Veronese's paintings with titles of Feasts have become an important contribution to Italian culture. But "The Feast in the House of Levi" deserves special attention, and not only in connection with the history of the name. This is a grandiose work, which is based on a stunning visual illusion. Instead of a wall, the artist managed to create a three-arched marble loggia, so convincingly painted that it seems absolutely real. The scene of the meal of Christ becomes theatrical and crowded. Only Magdalena was present in the center, but at the insistence of the inquisitors, she was replaced with… a dog.

Otherfamous paintings by Paolo Veronese

The names "The Family of Darius before Alexander the Great" or "Cycle of the Cuccin family" should also be familiar to every connoisseur of Italian art. The first canvas is one of the most spectacular compositions and depicts the meeting of the great commander with the family of the defeated Persian king. Works dedicated to the Cuccin family are also worthy of attention. Ordering a cycle of panels is an unusual fact in itself. Historians suggest that the head of the family decided to perpetuate the memory of the deceased brother in this way, in addition, it is known that the artist was his close friend and spent a lot of time with Kuchchin, which may be why he agreed to capture the household in his paintings. The main canvas is the "Madonna of the Cuccin family" - an excellent group portrait with a religious theme. The creation of the cycle dates back to the 1570s.

Last years of life

The creation of Veronese's painting "The Abduction of Europe" was at the final stage of the artist's work. The canvas with a well-known mythological plot, which was repeatedly used in the work of other masters around the world in different eras of history, depicting a bull kidnapping Europe and an angel that is trying to prevent him, is one of the works that completes the greatest era in the history of art of the late Venetian Renaissance. The death of Veronese, Titian and Tintoretto was the end of it, but the years of life of these masters still inspire the creators of monumental painting.