l U S O N THE V ES PLATE . J PITER DE TR YI G IC (I n the Mus'e du Lo u vre) This large composition S hows a method ra r ely employed by ri Veronese . The great imaginative artist here t ed his hand at u suc the more vigoro s school of painting , and with complete e ff cess . It is esp cially admired for certain remarkable e ects of u Du P foreshortening . This pict re , painted for the cal alace , served ’ o o o u XIV th s as a ceiling dec rati n in L is chamber at Versailles , fi until it was nally transferred to the Louvre . RHE LAFI TTE C | E PA RI S B Y F R A N C O I S C R A S T R E T R A N S L AT E D F R O M T H E F R E N C H B Y F R E D E R I C T A B E R C O O P E R W I T H E I G H T F A C S I M I L E R E P R O D U C T I O N S I N Q O L O U R m Si l‘lPITERNU F D I M PA RE ER C K A . STO KES C O NY N EW YO RK PU B LI SH ERS P Y T I r a B Y C O R I GH , g , K P N Y F REDE R I C K A . S T O E S C OM A T H E -P L I M P T O H o r R x s s [ w -D -O ] n o n w o o o -u A S S o U o s -A C O N TEN TS I n t r o d u c tion Th e F ir s t Y ea r s Th e S ojou r n in V en i c e Th e W e ddin g a t C a n a V er on ese a n d t h e I n qu i sition Th e J o u rn ey t o Ro m e Th e Re t ur n t o V en i c e T h e D e c or a tio n o f t he D u c a l P a l a c e T h e L a s t Y ea r s L I ST O F I LL U STRATI O N S Plate J upit er Des t r oyin g t h e V i c es Frontispiece In t he Mus'e du Louvr e h e D s c es a t m m a u II . T i ipl E s I n t he Mus 'e d u Louvre Th e o Fa m III . H ly ily In t he Mus'e du L ou vre n a n IV . Th e W e ddi g a t C a In t he Mu s'e du Louvr e Th e F a m ily of D a r iu s In the N iona Ga er Lo ndo n at l ll y , V I C a va r . l y In the Mus'e du Louvre h M a r r a e of S t . C a h er n e V I I . T e i g t i I n t he Acc a derm a de e Be e Ar i Venice ll ll t , V Th e V s on of St e en a III . i i . H l I n t he N a iona Ga er London t l ll y , I NTRODUCTION T has been said of Veronese that he was the most I absurd and the most adorable of the great paint a l it n i ers . Paradoxic as sounds , this judgme t s perfectly true . Absurd , Veronese undoubtedly was , n hi i ai i i s d sd n of logic and common sense , in h s complete indifference to historic truth and school tradi n hi tions , and i s anachronistic habit of garbing antiq I ' 12 VERONESE uity in modern raiment . I paint my pictures he , said , without taking these matters into consideration , and I allow myself the same license which is granted ” to poets and to fools . And it is precisely his riotous i - nfi fantasy, his na ve self co d en ce, his own peculiar way of understanding mythology an d religion that have made him the a dorable artist whose glory has been consecrated by the centuries . i Thanks to the rare power of his gen us , the most audacious improbabilities vanish beneath the magic adornments with which he covers them , and it hardly occurs to one to notice his glaring historical errors or the superficia lit ies Of his pictorial conceptions in the continual delight inspired by the sense of concentrated life in his characters , the splendour of his colouring , the caressing charm of his draperies , the brilliance of his skies , and the impression of youth and of joy that radiates from his work . Veronese was neither a l thinker nor an historian , nor a mora ist ; he was quite simply a painter , but he was a very great one . If his be preference is for the joyous scenes of life , that is ca use life treated him indulgently from his earliest — —I E S S AT U PLATE II . TI DI CIPLE EMMA S ( In the Mu s'e d u Louvre) r This biblical scene , as t eated by Veronese , in no wise resem bles the same s ubject as treated by the Primitives or by Rem M u u brandt . The Venetian aster does not tro ble himself abo t F O u tradition ; for him , this east is simply an pport nity for a u u u beautif l pict re , brilliant in colo r, and embellished with rich accessories and architectural drawing . P IERRE LAFI TT E a I I O E. PAR S 16 VERONESE at Venice that the Fea st a t the House of Simon the ha risee ea s a t the H use Levi P , the F t o of take place ; it is in Venetian surroundings that Jesus presides over in the Wedd g Fea st a t Ca na . On e can understand how the painters of the Ve n t i e a n school , nurtured in the dazzling and joyous f - light o the sea born city , transferred to their palette that vibrant colour with which their artist eyes were filled ; nor is it surprising that Veronese , passionately f enamoured o Venice , achieved , through his wish to glorify her , that magnificence of colour and of expres sion which remains his distinctive mark . TH E FI R S T Y E AR S of Nevertheless , Veronese was not a native Venice but of Verona , as is indicated by the surname that was bestowed upon him during his life and that has h adhered to him ever since . His rig tful name was 1528 Paolo C alia ri. He was born at Verona in and his r not in 1530 , as is asserted by several of biographe s , l notably by Car lo Rido fi . The correct date is now Of verified by the discovery , in San Samuele Venice, VERONESE 17 ’ of Ver on ese s parish church , of the register deaths wherein the decease of the great painter is entered as l 158 da having occurred the gth of April , 8 , the very y when he completed his sixtieth yea r . i Paolo C aliari belonged to a family of a rtists . H s i father Gabriele C a l ar i, was a sculptor and enjoyed , ’ n some little reputation in his own city . Ver o ese s n uncle ntonio Badile , was a pai ter , and in such , A pictures as are known t o be his we find evidence not only of a good deal of ability, but of a certain facile grace that justifies the high esteem in which his com patriots held him . ’ Veronese s father, being of a logical turn of mind , t o wished , since he himself was a sculptor , make a sculp tor of his son . Ver onese learned t o model statuettes la s in c y , a nd , aided by his precocious intelligence , he acquired a real dexterity in this art , quite remarkable in one so young . But this was not his vocation . Frequent visits to the studio of his uncle Badile had awakened in him an enthusiasm for painting . He applied himself t o learn to paint with so much zeal and imagination 18 VERONESE that his father made no attempt to check his inclina tion , but entrusted him to Badile . The latter was ’ Veronese s real teacher , though not the only one , for young Paolino also attended the studio of another Veronese painter , Giovanni C a r ott o . From the outset , Veronese applied himself ener i ll g et ca y to perfecting his skill in line drawing . The future genial painter of wondrous fantasy yielded him self without a murmur to the rude but salutary ex igen cies of technique . Strange caprice on the part of an artist who was destined to show so much dex rit t e y in execution and lavishness in decoration , his tastes turned towards the most severe and least of D L imaginative masters , Albert urer and ucas L Van eyden .