Paolo Veronese

Summary of Paolo Veronese

Regarded as something of a child prodigy, Veronese matured into one of the most famous masters of the late Renaissance. The artist belongs to the Venetian School and, though he post-dates the period by a generation, he is often grouped with the glorious triumvirate of Titian, Tintoretto and Giorgione. Veronese came into his own however as a superb colorist and painter of the elegant and grandiose - in both theme and scale - of narratives that conveyed their meanings through rich and fluid color schemes. The figures in his works are often described as having the subtle foreshortening of Correggio and Michelangelo's heroism and Veronese typically placed them against a painted architectural "stage" that was redolent of a city (Venice) that was (and still is) thought to resemble a magnificent living arena in its own right. Regardless of the often sacred nature of his subject-matter - Veronese was himself a devout Catholic - his paintings would often exude the worldly, playful atmosphere of 16th-century Venice. John Ruskin once wrote that he learned from Veronese's pictures that "to be a first-rate painter, you mustn't be pious - but rather a little wicked and entirely a man of the world." Ruskin was referring to the gayety in Veronese's paintings which did not always meet with the approval of the ruling Church bodies. Veronese was however a man of principled resilience. This was demonstrated in his defence of artistic freedoms when faced with condemnation from an executive Holy Office committee.

Key Ideas

The youngest of five siblings, Paolo Caliari, nicknamed Veronese after his birthplace, was born in 1528 in the Italian city of Verona, then a mainland province of the Republic of Venice. His father, Gabriele, was a stonecutter; his mother, Catherina, the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman called Antonio Caliari. He was born moreover in Verona's artists' quarter in the district of San Paolo, which may well have accounted for his parents' choice of Christian name. Paolo initially apprenticed under his father which meant he went for a time by his professional name too: Paolo Spezapreda ("Paolo the Stonecutter"). However, while working with his father, Paolo's precocious talent for drawing became apparent and, aged 14, his apprenticeship was transferred to the studio of a local master named Antonio Bandile (he would later marry Bandile's daughter). It is suggested in some unconfirmed accounts that he may have studied simultaneously in the workshops of Giovanni Francesco Caroto, from whom, he may have inherited his fascination with the application of color.

Paolo Veronese's childhood, life, career, and various anecdotes

Read Paolo Veronese's Biography

And, the artists and movements that built upon Paolo Veronese's art

Read Paolo Veronese's Artistic Legacy