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Paolo CALIARI, known as VERONESE (Verona, 1528 – Venice, 1588)
The Wedding Feast at Cana
1562–1563
© R.M.N. |
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Denon
1st Floor
Salle des Etats
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The Wedding Feast at Cana |
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This huge canvas once adorned the refectory of the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. Here, Veronese, acclaimed as a colorist and for painting vast, multifigured scenes, chose to depict Christ’s first miracle, performed during the Marriage at Cana. Working the perspective so as to draw the spectator into the scene, he transposed the biblical episode to his own era, rich 16th-century Venice. Note the splendor of the fabrics, the sumptuous jewelry, silver and silver-gilt tableware, and the elegant Palladian architecture, which set a magnificent stage for this story, which is supposed to have taken place in the home of poor people who ran out of wine during a wedding feast. In the center, on Christ’s right, Mary holds an invisible glass in her hand to show that there is no wine left. In the right foreground, the figure in yellow pours water that has turned into wine from a jar, a miracle witnessed by the two figures behind him. A man clad in green hurries toward the newlyweds, on the left in front of the columns, to ask why the best wine was kept for the end of the banquet.
Another reading of the work moves vertically from the symbolic image of the butchers chopping up meat to the hourglass on the musicians’ table and the dog chewing a bone: it heralds the "sacrifice of the Lamb," the death of Christ, who revealed his true nature by performing this miracle. But the dogs are also an allegory of fidelity, that of Christians whose faith will sweep away the clouds. |
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Go back toward the Mona Lisa, then head toward the end of the room. You will see paintings by Titian and Tintoretto as you pass to the right of the Mona Lisa. Continue straight ahead into Room 74 (French painting). Head toward the red room to your right, where you can admire Jacques-Louis David's famous painting, The Coronation of Napoleon, on your left.
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