Veronese, Paolo

Italy, (1528-1588)

  • Paolo Veronese - Holy Family with Saints Catherine and Anthony Abbot and the Infant John the Baptist
  • Holy Family with Saints Catherine and Anthony Abbot and the Infant John the Baptist

  • (1551), oil on canvas
  • 123.2 x 74.8 in. (313 x 190 cm.)
  • Church of San Francesco della Vigna, Venice
  • Editor’s Note:

    The Italian master engraver, Agostino Carracci, executed a copy of this work in 1582.

About the Artist

Paolo Veronese, (1528 – 1588), Italian. Also known as Paolo Cagliari or Paolo Caliari, he became known as “Veronese” from his birthplace in Verona. A painter of both oils and ceiling frescos, Veronese, along with Titian and Tintoretto, constitute the triumvirate of pre-eminent Venetian painters of the late Renaissance.

Veronese is known as a supreme colorist, creating dazzling light and colour harmonies and illusionistic decorations in both fresco and oil. The body of his work includes numerous classical compositions and church commissions as well and decorations for private homes. His large paintings of biblical feasts executed for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially notable.

Veronese’s most famous works are elaborate narrative cycles, executed in a dramatic and colorful style, characterized by majestic architectural settings and glittering pageantry. Veronese’s handling of colour and perspective supplied an indispensable point of departure for future painters. [DES-7/07]

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