Part 3

Venice is here represented in the form of a superb and smiling woman, seated upon the clouds, her eyes raised towards Glory, who offers her a crown. At her side, Renown celebrates her grandeur; at her feet are grouped Honour, Liberty, Peace, Juno, and Ceres; lower down an ethereal structure of admirable daring and architectural beauty sustains a great assemblage of gentlemen and ladies richly clad, of cardinals and bishops, all emulously uniting in the glorification of Venice. On the ground level standards, trophies, and cavaliers add the finishing touch to the composition, and are treated with incomparable vigour and skill both in chiaroscuro and in perspective.

Although of more modest dimensions, the _Taking of Smyrna_ and the _Defence of Scutari_ are in no wise inferior to the great central composition. In this same Hall of the Grand Council, Veronese painted two other great canvases, representing the Military Expedition of the Doges, Loredan and Mocenigo.

But for that matter there is not a room in the Palace of the Doges in which Veronese is not represented by one or more canvases; in the Hall of the Anticollegio, there is a ceiling painting representing _Venice Enthroned_, a work that has unfortunately deteriorated; in the Hall of the Collegio, a _Battle of Lepanto_, a _Christ in Glory_, _Venice and the Doge Venier_, a _Faith_, a _St. Mark_, and a ceiling which is considered as the most beautiful in the whole Palace of the Doges: _Venice Upon the Terrestrial Globe, Between Justice and Peace_. The Hall of the Council of Ten contains, in the oval ceiling panel: _An Old Man resting his Head on his Hand_ and _A Young Woman_. In the Hall of the "Bussola," _St. Mark crowning the Theological Virtues_, the original of which is at the present time in the Louvre. Mention should also be made of: The _Triumph of the Doge Venier over the Turks_; the _Return of Contanari_, _Victor over the Genoese at Chioggia_; the _Emperor Frederick at the feet of Alexander III._, and, in the Hall of the Ambassadors, a magnificent allegory of Venice, personified as a patrician lady seen from behind, robed in white satin and of marvellous grace.

Veronese also had a share in the decoration of another of Venice's monumental buildings, situated near the bridge of the Rialto and known by the name of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. This building, which is to-day occupied by the Post Office, formerly served as warehouse for German business men having commercial relations with the Republic. These rich merchants had had the palace adorned by the greatest painters in Venice. Giorgione and Titian had decorated its walls not only within, but also on the exterior, where traces of the paintings can still be seen. Veronese was entrusted with four compositions, one of which is an allegory representing _Germany receiving the Imperial Crown_. It is believed that the canvas now in the Museum at Berlin, entitled _Jupiter, Fortune and Germany_, once formed part of the decoration of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. It was purchased at Verona in 1841. Veronese's celebrity, about the year 1580, had become world-wide. Every sovereign who prided himself on his art gallery wished to possess some of his work. The indefatigable artist endeavoured to satisfy them all; he even corresponded personally with several of them. For the Duke of Savoy, he painted _The Queen of Sheba Visiting Solomon_; to the Duke of Mantua, who had honoured him with his friendship, he sent a _Moses Saved from the Waters_; to the Emperor Rudolph II. he gave a _Cephale and Procris_ and a _Poem of Venus_. These last two canvases, of which the German Emperor was very proud, were taken from him by Gustavus Adolphus, when that triumphant conqueror passed through Vienna.

Throughout his life, Veronese remained faithful to the pompous, brilliant, ornamental school of painting. Not that he was incapable of essaying other types, but because it was his own preference to paint ease and luxury on a broad scale. He sometimes had occasion to handle more vigorous subjects, and in this he was completely successful, as the magnificent painting entitled _Jupiter Destroying the Vices_ abundantly bears witness.

The surprise experienced in the presence of this noble work, executed with the energy of a master-hand, is surpassed only by admiration for the versatility of a genius which could at will adapt itself to unfamiliar formulas. This famous painting, proud and virile in style, was taken from Italy by the victorious Armies of France, and placed in Versailles in the chamber of Louis XIV., where for a long period it served as the ceiling decoration. It was finally removed and now hangs in the Louvre, in company of other masterpieces by the same artist.

THE LAST YEARS

The execution of his large official canvases did not prevent Veronese from responding to all the appeals which came to him from every side. His unequalled activity, his prodigious facility made it possible for him to satisfy these demands. No one knows all the pictures which he painted for private individuals, nor all the frescoes with which he adorned certain dwellings that have since disappeared. Nevertheless what a formidable list the works of this painter would make if the attempt were made to draw up such a list without omissions! Ridolfi devotes not less than thirty pages to a simple enumeration of the pictures which Veronese painted for the neighbouring islands of Venice, such as Murano and Torcello, for the country house of the Grimani at Orlago, for that of the Duke of Tuscany at Artemino, or for the Palace of the Pisani. To Verona, to Brescia, to Vicenza, to Treviso, to Padua; to Venice also, to the Frari, to Ognissanti, to the Umilta, to San Francisco del Orto, to Santa Catarina, for which he painted his famous _Marriage of St. Catherine_, everywhere, in short, where they required him, he sent marvellous canvases, magic with colour and with life;--canvases for which to-day museums vie with each other for their weight in gold.

But Veronese was no longer young; he had entered well into the fifties; yet nothing in his craftsmanship betrayed fatigue or waning powers. A genius almost unique, he went steadily forward and no one could say of him, in the presence of his latest productions, what has so often been said of other illustrious painters: "That is a work of his old age!" Veronese had the rare privilege of remaining young to the end.

One day, while following a procession on foot, Veronese contracted a cold, and after a brief illness he died. His obsequies took place in the parish church of San Samuele, April 19, 1588. On that day he would have completed his sixtieth year.

When we remember that, up to the eve of his death, Veronese continued to paint with as steady a hand as at the age of twenty, his death seems premature, and it is only natural to deplore that this matchless artist should have failed to obtain the ripe age of Titian. What masterpieces he might still have painted!

Such as they are, brilliant and luxuriant, his works remain the most abundant that have ever come from the palette of any one painter, and Veronese stands lastingly, in the history of Art, as the most amazing of all masters, both in colour and in composition.

THE WORKS OF PAOLO VERONESE

THE WORKS OF PAOLO VERONESE

FRANCE

PARIS (MUSEUM OF THE LOUVRE): The Wedding at Cana.--The Feast at the House of Simon the Pharisee.--Jupiter destroying the Vices.--Portrait of a Young Woman.--Susannah and the Elders.--The Disciples at Emmaüs.--The Fainting of Esther.--The Burning of Sodom.--Two Holy Families.--Calvary.--Jesus Stumbling Beneath the Weight of the Cross.--St. Mark Crowning the Theological Virtues.--Jesus Curing Peter's Mother-in-law.

MONTPELLIER (MUSEUM): The Virgin in the Clouds.--The Marriage of St. Catherine.--St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata.

RENNES (MUSEUM): Perseus Delivering Andromeda.

LILLE (MUSEUM): Science and Eloquence.--The Martyrdom of St. George.

ROUEN (MUSEUM): St. Barnabas Curing the Sick.

ENGLAND

LONDON (NATIONAL GALLERY): The Rape of Europa.--The Family of Darius.--Magdalen at the Feet of the Saviour.--The Vision of St. Helena.--The Adoration of the Magi.--The Consecration of St. Nicholas.

EDINBURGH (NATIONAL GALLERY): Venus and Adonis.--Mars and Venus.

DULWICH COLLEGE: A Cardinal pronouncing Benediction.

ITALY

VENICE (ACCADEMIA DELLE BELLE ARTI): St. Mark and St. Matthew.--The Feast at the House of Levi--St. Luke and St. John.--St. Christina fed by the Angels.--St. Christina thrown into the Lake of Bolsena.--The Virgin, St. Joseph and several Saints.--The Virgin and St. Dominique.--St. Christina before the False Gods.--The Annunciation.--The Coronation of the Virgin.--Isaiah.--Ezechiel.--The Battle of Cursolari.--The Flagellation of St. Christina.--The Angels of the Passion.--Jesus and the two Thieves.

VENICE (DUCAL PALACE): The Triumph of Venice.--The Rape of Europa.--Peace and Justice.

ASOLO (VILLA BARBARO): Fresco Decorations.

ROME (VATICAN): St. Helena.

FLORENCE (UFFIZZI GALLERY): Esther before Ahasuerus.--Portrait of a Man.--Jesus Crucified.--Prudence, Hope, and Love.--The Annunciation to the Virgin.--The Martyrdom of St. Justine.--The Martyrdom of St. Catherine.--The Madonna and the Infant Jesus (Sketch).--Study for a St. Paul.--Gentleman in a white Robe (Sketch).--Holy Family with St. Catherine.

FLORENCE (PITTI PALACE): Portrait of Veronese's Wife.--Portrait of Daniele Barbaro.--The Baptism of Christ.--Portrait of a Child.--Christ taking leave of His Mother.

BERGAMO (CARRARA ACADEMY): Reunion in a Garden.--Episode from the Life of St. Catherine.

TURIN (ROYAL MUSEUM): Magdalen washing the Feet of Christ.--Moses saved from the Waters.

NAPLES (NATIONAL MUSEUM): The Circumcision.

GENOA (DORIA PALACE): Susannah and the Elders.--The same Subject.--Allegorical Figures.

MODENA (ROYAL GALLERY OF ESTE): St. Peter and St. Paul.--Portrait of Veronese.--A Captain.

MILAN (BRERA MUSEUM): The Feast at the House of the Pharisee.--The Adoration of the Magi.--The Last Supper.--The Baptism of Christ.--St. Gregory and St. Jerome Glorified.--St. Ambrose and St. Augustine Glorified.--Christ on the Mount of Olives.--St. Anthony, St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian.

BELGIUM

BRUSSELS (ROYAL MUSEUM): The Adoration of the Magi.--The Holy Family with St. Theresa and St. Catherine.--Juno lavishing her Treasures on Venice.

SPAIN

MADRID (MUSEUM OF THE PRADO): Four Portraits of Women of Rank.--Calvary.--The Woman taken in Adultery.--Magdalen Repentant.--Venus and Adonis.--Jesus and the Centurion.--The Infant Jesus, St. Lucia and St. Sebastian.--The Martyrdom of St. Genesius.--Jesus in the Midst of the Doctors.--Cain wandering with his Family.--The Sacrifice of Abraham.--The Adoration of the Magi.--Moses saved from the Waters.--Portrait of a Venetian Woman in Mourning.--Young Man between Vice and Virtue.--Susannah and the two Elders.

GERMANY

DRESDEN (GALLERY): Christ on the Cross.--Moses saved from the Waters.--The Rape of Europa.--The Wedding at Cana (reduced size).--Christ and the two Thieves.--The Good Samaritan.--The Adoration of the Magi.--Portraits of Daniele Barbaro (replica).--The Presentation at the Temple.--Christ cures the Servant of Caharnaum.--Jesus carrying the Cross.--The Resurrection of Christ.--The Adoration of the Virgin.

BERLIN (MUSEUM): Jupiter, Fortune and Germany.--Mars and Minerva.--Apollo and Juno.--Jupiter, Juno, Cybile and Neptune.--Christ and the two Angels.--Four canvases representing Geniuses.--Saturn and Olympe.

MUNICH (PINACOTHEK): Faith and Religion.--The Death of Cleopatra.--Woman taken in Adultery.--Portrait of a Woman.--Justice and Prudence.--The Rest in Egypt.--Love holding chained Dogs.--A Mother and three Children.--Strength and Temperance.--Holy Family.--The Cure of the Servant of Caharnaum.

AUSTRIA

VIENNA (BELVEDERE): The Rape of Dejanire.--Catherine Cornaro.--Christ and the Woman taken in Adultery.--Christ and the Samaritan Woman.--The Adoration of the Magi.--The Marriage of St Catherine.--The Resurrection.--St. Nicholas.--Quintus Curtius throwing himself into the Chasm.--Portrait of Marco Antonio Barbaro.--Young Man caressing a Dog.--Annunciation to the Virgin.--Adam and Eve and their First-born.--Venus and Adonis.--St. Sebastian.--The Death of Lucrece.--St John the Baptist--Judith.--Christ entering the House of Zaira.--St. Catherine and St. Barbara present two Nuns to the Virgin and the Infant Jesus.

SWEDEN

STOCKHOLM (NATIONAL MUSEUM): The Circumcision.--Magdalen.--A Holy Family.--A Madonna.

RUSSIA

ST. PETERSBURG (HERMITAGE): The Flight into Egypt.--The Adoration of the Magi.--Holy Family.--Diana and Minerva.--Mars and Venus.--Portrait of a Man.--Lazarus and the Rich Man.--Christ in the midst of the Doctors.--The Dead Christ upheld by the Virgin and an Angel.--The Marriage of St. Catherine.--Various Sketches.

LEUCHTEMBERG GALLERY: The Adoration of the Magi.--The Widow of the Spanish Ambassador at Venice presenting her Son to Philip II.