PROTAGONISTS OF VENICE’S CINQUECENTO: PAOLO VERONESE

Paolo Caliari, known as Veronese, moved to Venice in his early twenties (in about 1551) from his native Verona. He was almost immediately commissioned for important public and private works, and moved in the city’s most exclusive aristocratic and intellectual circles. His is a refined and cultivated art, designed on a large, monumental scale and characterised by a sense of clarity and formal equilibrium. The works in this hall, all from religious buildings, are striking for their brilliant colours and limpid light, their bold, dramatic scenography, and the gestures and gaze of the restrained, dignified figures.