Paolo Veronese

Paolo Veronese (1528-1588)

Paolo Caliari , known as Veronese , born in 1528 in Verona and died on April 19, 1588 in Venice , is a Venetian painter .

Although he enjoyed real popularity during his lifetime, especially in Venice, he was ignored by critics of his time who speak of Venetian art , only Francesco Sansovino speaks about him in his Guide of 1556 . Nevertheless, Veronese was the triumvirate of Venetian painters of the Late Renaissance with Titian and Tintoretto .

Veronese is known as a great colourist as well as for his illusionist decorations ( trompe - l'oeil ) frescoes and oil . His best-known works are elaborate narrative cycles, executed in a dramatic and colorful style, with majestic and glittering arrangements.

His real name remains unknown: the painter has successively signed Paolo Spezapedra (paternal nickname), Paolo di Gabriele , Paolo da Verona or Paolo Caliaro (probable alias ). The tradition of the history of art speaks of Paolo Caliari . Finally, he will be known as "Veronese" because of his birthplace in Verona.

Veronese returns to Venice where he became the fashionable painter, the favorite decorator of the nobles and ecclesiastics . Its popularity extends beyond the confines of the city and extends to neighboring provinces. He receives orders of all kinds, frescoes or paintings, secular or sacred subjects, allegories or portraits ...

He was again invited to work at the church of San Sebastiano, in 1558, where he was responsible for painting, on the upper part of the walls, sequences of the life of the saint. Between 1559 and 1561 he decorated the shutters of the organ and the altar panel. We see The Virgin in glory with Saint Sebastian and other saints . Then, a little later around 1565 , he realized for the choir of the church three works illustrating other events of the life of the saint of which Saint Mark and Saint Marcellin encouraged by Saint Sebastian on the path of martyrdom and The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian .

In 1562 , Veronese undertook the decoration of the villa Barbaro in Maser in Veneto belonging to Daniel Barbaro and his brother, Marcantonio. These had hired the famous architect Andrea Palladio in 1556 for the construction of their villa and they then entrusted the pictorial decoration to Veronese Daniel Barbaro had met around 1553 , when he executed his compositions for the Audience Hall at the Doge's Palace . Veronese realized in this villa frescoes that mark the apogee of his art among which we must mention the Universal Harmony, or Divine Love surrounded by the Olympic gods , Venus and Vulcan with Proserpineor even Bacchus and the nymphs . Numerous pieces are decorated with frescoes by Veronese and, everywhere, the architectural space is challenged through the use of trompe-l'oeil pictorial illusions.

At the same period, between 1562 and 1563 , Veronese painted the most famous of his works, The Marriage of Cana which had been commissioned for the refectory of the Benedictine monastery of Penquesten located on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore , Venice. As in other paintings of Veronese representing a banquet, the scene reflects the festivities that were common at the time in Venetian life. The painting is huge with almost ten meters wide and it contains more than a hundred characters, including recognizable portraits of Titian , Tintoretto , and Veronese himself.

He returns to his hometown of Verona where, in 1566 , he marries Elena Badile with whom he has four children including Cảlo and Gabriele who will work with him later.

In 1573 , he defied the Inquisition court, which accused him of licenses taken in relation to the holy texts in a Last Supper and which he would be ordered to amend. Veronese will not do anything about it and will simply simply rename her work Le Levi's name , which she still wears today, although it is actually the last meal of Christ. He is accused of having added to the religious episode a number of secondary and anecdotal characters, including a parrot or two halberdiers drinking and a bleeding servant of the nose, as well as animals harming the solemnity of the Last Supper. The answer remained: "We painters take liberties just like poets and lunatics".

Between 1575 and 1577 , Veronese realized, at the Doge's palace , the Triumph of Venice for the Great Council Hall and the Allegories of Virtue for the College Hall, which are among his great masterpieces.

From 1575, Veronese is more interested in landscapes, he gradually abandons large compositions and is more interested in small formats where he will express himself in a very lyrical way. It is from this period that mythological scenes like The Rape of Europe and The Death of Procris date .

He plans to compete for the performance of a representation of Paradise at the Doge's Palace . In this contest, which takes place between 1578 and 1582, the most important Venetian artists take part, including Tintoretto and Palma the younger . Veronese is declared laureate with Francesco Bassano , and he is entrusted with the execution of the central group. He will not realize this project, but we can see in Lille a sketch prepared for this contest. A new contest is organized after the death of Veronese and it is Jacopo Tintoretto who will do the work with his son .

Veronese, who died of pneumonia in 1588 at 60, was buried in the church of San Sebastiano, of which he painted a large number of frescoes.

After his death, his brother Benedetto Caliari and two of his sons, Carlo and Gabriele who inherit Veronese's studio, finish some paintings that their father did not finish, under the name of "Haeredes Pauli". Gabriele will be the last survivor of this workshop and continues to paint at least until 1603 .

Veronese, which prefigures the Baroque current , is most often associated with Mannerism .

His work includes many frescoes of religious inspiration but also secular paintings , mainly mythological or allegorical. He often puts on stage monumental paintings.

It uses accentuated colors , it represents very detailed scenes, characters clearly cleared funds, with strong contrasts, theatrical and rhythmic architectures. His clear palette, colorful shadows, his poetic, sensual grace of his characters and sense of decor make it a must master painter of the xvi th  century.

His most famous murals are those decorating Villa Barbaro , in Maser (Veneto), an illusionist ensemble taking place in an architecture designed by Andrea Palladio .

He is also famous for his series of portraits with dazzling natural faces. The master is especially interested in faces.

At his death in 1588, Veronese leaves no school, but his work will influence the entire subsequent painting and artists like Velázquez or Rubens then, in the xix th  century , Delacroix and Cezanne .