For which Veronese was put on trial by the Inquisition - the author of the painting depicting the Last Supper

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Paolo Cagliari (nicknamed Veronese by his contemporaries) is one of the best masters of painting in Venice in the 16th century. The heir to the classical school of Giovanni Bellini and Mantegna, in his work he tends towards entertainment and mannerism (a trend that preceded the Baroque). The Feast at the House of Levi was the latest in a series of monumental banquet paintings by Veronese, which included The Marriage at Cana of Galilee (1563, Louvre, Paris) and The Feast at Simon Pharisee (1570, Milan, Brera Gallery).

"Feast in the House of Levi" = "The Last Supper"

This is one of the largest religious paintings of the Cinquento (Late Renaissance period). This massive 5551310 cm canvas was painted by Veronese for the Dominican church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, and the haloed Christ, dressed in a shimmering biblical robe, sits in the center next to St. Peter (symbolically carving a lamb) and St. John, and Judas (right) is depicted as a red figure. Some of the apostles raise the cups of wine, the servants carry food.

Unlike other analogues of the "Last Supper", in this picture there are a lot of people around Christ. Here are the apostles, and the owner of the house itself, Levi, and his servants (including black people), and guests dressed in Venetian robes, and children, and jesters, and even animals. The place of the feast is also impressive: this is not a modest Jerusalem house, but a luxurious palace with columns of the Corinthian order, cornices and an attic, richly decorated with gold ornaments, multi-layered arcades and a patterned tiled floor. The area with tables looks like a classic portico, framed by a balustrade with a double staircase and three large arches - very similar to Renaissance architecture. The artist's approach is also striking in conveying the essence of the plot: if in the analogues of the Last Supper we see the restraint of the heroes, their concentration on the lips and words of Christ, general calmness, then in the painting "Feast in the House of Levi" we see vanity, running around, liveliness and active conversations. All these details of the merry feast have nothing to do with the strict canonical religious theme. There is not even a hint of the Eucharist (the consecration of bread and wine by Christ). The artist absolutely convincingly showed that his task was not to reflect the Christian sacrament, his goal was to convey rich decorations, architectural decorations, emotions from a feast in the house of a rich influential person and the beauty of Venetian life. Perhaps due to the fact that the Last Supper was a worn-out theme in Christian art, especially during the Italian Renaissance, when it was already popularized by such paintings as: "The Last Supper" by Andrea del Castagno, "The Last Supper" by Domenico Ghirlandaio and "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci. In this regard, the artist, most likely, wished to distinguish his work from a number of famous ones.

Inquisition court

The loudest line in his biography is on July 18, 1573, shortly after the painting "The Last Supper" was completed. On this day, the court summoned Veronese to appear before the tribunal of the Roman Catholic Inquisition on charges of heresy. Veronese's interpretation of this biblical event led to problems in the painter's work, since his version contained a noticeable number of secular images that were considered inappropriate for this topic. The essence of the accusation is that, according to the Inquisition, he embodied the biblical scene in a non-canonical way, which ultimately led to a scandal. Indeed, as the Inquisition concluded, if not for the halo of Christ, the plot could be considered completely pagan.

Specific accusations: - the inclusion of a group of German soldiers in the picture - the inclusion of various wicked jesters and dwarfs - the absence of the Virgin Mary - lack of clarity as to which particular last meal is depicted (there are three different versions of the Last Supper in the Gospel of Mark). In response to Martin Luther's Protestant uprising, Rome had already published new canonical principles for Catholic counter-Reformation art. Therefore, any artist, heretical or grotesquely depicting this or that religious scene, could become a criminal. The court ordered Veronese to change the painting at his own expense, but Cagliari only decided to change the name of the painting (“The Last Supper” became “Feast in the House of Levi”). Veronese himself said in court that his tasks as an artist include writing a plot based on the main points of the Bible, but the master has the right to reflect minor episodes at his discretion. The sad episode with the Inquisition ended relatively well for Veronese. He managed to convince the court of the artist's right to interpret and portray a religious plot in his own way. However, the transformations in the Renaissance influenced the activities of many artists, including Cagliari. His paintings became more restrained and faded, they lost their liveliness and contrast. The feeling of joy and freedom in the picturesque culture of Venice was replaced by the boundaries and closer supervision of the Inquisition, the Venetian colors - by dullness and routine, the festive atmosphere was replaced by despondency.

The renamed Veronese painting remained in the Santi Giovanni e Paolo monastery until 1797. Later she was removed by order of Napoleon Bonaparte and taken to Paris. Ten years later, the painting was moved to its current home in the Accademia Gallery in Venice.

Far away, everyone, even those interested in art, knows what secrets did Leonardo da Vinci encrypt in his "Last Supper" … Knowing them, looking at the picture is much more interesting.