Stefan Arteni

Paolo Caliari Veronese:

tradition and the free play of form
I

SolInvictus Press 2009

Paolo Veronese
Self Portrait
about 1560
Oil on canvas
63 x 50 cm
Sankt Petersburg, Hermitage

Veroneses 1573 The Last Supper of Jesus Christ with His Disciples in the
House of Simon, later retitled Feast at the House of Levi

Composition diagrams
by Charles Bouleau

Could art be defined concisely as just

subjective 'self expression' ?
Is art self-expression or communication?
Subjectivity as apocalyptic negativity
For Merleau-Pontyevery new painting somehow
repeats the same gesture in its attempt to descend back
into the verticality of being, into the savage world of preconceptuality
Heideggerwants to free us for a different experience,
allow us to once more approach art as a unique mode of
disclosure situated beyond aesthetics[He] clearly
states what is at stake: Erlebnis, as the modern,
subjectivized and aestheticized form of the Greek
aisthesis, is the element in which art dies, although this
process might require hundreds of years in order to reach
its completion
[Heidegger] attempts to locate the origin of the work of
art in the movement of beings historical unfolding
indeed as one of the primary manifestations of the very
event (Ereignis) of the presencing (Anwesen) of being
Sven-Olov Wallenstein
In Defense of Speculative Aesthetics
http://magazines.documenta.de/frontend/article.php?IdLa
nguage=1&NrArticle=1184

Kunst gibt nicht das Sichtbare wieder, sondern macht sichtbar. (art
does not render the visible, but renders visible)
Paul Klee
Before ascertaining the necessary connection and adequation of
form and content, before knowing what a painting may signify, one
must ascertain if it exists as a good painting.
Maurice Denis
Die im Ereignis wesende Kehre
(The turn coming to presence in Ereignis)
Martin Heidegger
Ereignis is translated often as event of appropriation or en-owning.
Ereignen means, originally, to catch sight of, i.e. to discern with one's
eyes, writes Heidegger, and in seeing calling to oneself, appropriate.
[Martin Heidegger, Identitaet und Differenz, Neske, 1978.]
The verb ereignen derives from the Middle High German erougen, to set
before the eyes, from the Old High German irougen, to show, reveal.
From the Old High German ir (er) and ouga (Auge), eye, originates the
Early New High German secondary form erugnen, replaced in the 18th
century by ereignen.
The noun Ereignis is now used with the sense of Geschehenis, event,
occurrence, happening [compare with the Old High German irougness, a
coming forth, appearance, shining (translation of the Latin ostensio, a
showing), with the Old High German irougnissa, promulgation, revelation
(translation of the Latin manifestatio, revelation), related to the Old High
German ouga (Auge), eye.]
Consequently, Ereignis may be translated as either seeable/seen
occurrence, or viewable/visible arising, or a coming forth seen with
ones eyes.

The term "artistic license" has come to stand for the freedom artists
feel to create just about anything and call it art.
Regarding Veroneses claim to absolute right of artistic licence,
some basic facts have never been introduced into the discussion and
other facts have been presented in quite a tendentious way.
In 1573, Veronese was commissioned to paint a version
of The Last Supper for the Dominican refectory at
SS Giovanni e Paolo after a painting on the subject by Titian was
destroyed in a fire. Needless to say, Veronese was familiar with the
traditional iconography of The Last Supper and of the festal
gatherings mentioned in the New Testament.
Paintings were also vehicles for displays of excellence, creativity of
invention and technical virtuosity. It appears that Veroneses Last
Supper had become a sumptuous banqueting scene constructed
according to scenographic principles. In their grilling of Veronese, the
Inquisition's questions centred upon whether it was, in fact, a Last
Supper. Veronese insisted it was The Last Supper of Jesus Christ
with His disciples in the house of Simon.

Report of the sitting of the Tribunal of the Inquisition on

Saturday July eighteenth, 1573
This is Charles Yriarte's translation from Italian, published, among other
places in Francis Marion Crawford's Salve Venetia, New York, 1905.
Vol. II: 29-34.

This day, July eighteenth, 1573. Called to the Holy Office

before the sacred tribunal, Paolo Galliari [sic] Veronese
residing in the parish of Saint Samuel, and being asked as to
his name and surname replied as above.
Being asked as to his profession:
Answer. I paint and make figures.
Question. Do you know the reasons why you have been called
here?
A. No.
Q. Can you imagine what those reasons may be?
A. I can well imagine.
Q. Say what you think about them.
A. I fancy that it concerns what was said to me by the reverend
fathers, or rather by the prior of the monastery of San Giovanni
e Paolo, whose name I did not know, but who informed me that
he had been here, and that your Most Illustrious Lordships had
ordered him to cause to be placed in the picture a Magdalen
instead of the dog; and I answered him that very readily I
would do all that was needful for my reputation and for the
honor of the picture; but that I did not understand what this
figure of the Magdalen could be doing here; and this for many
reasons, which I will tell, when occasion is granted me to
speak.
Q. What is the picture to which you have been referring?
A. It is the picture which represents the Last Supper of Jesus
Christ with His disciples in the house of Simon.
...
Q. How you painted other Last Suppers besides that one?
A. Yes.


A. It is necessary here that I should say a score of words.
Q. Say them.
A. We painters use the same license as poets and madmen,
and I represented those halberdiers, the one drinking, the other
eating at the foot of the stairs, but both ready to do their duty,
because it seemed to me suitable and possible that the master
of the house, who as I have been told was rich and magnificent,
would have such servants.
Q. And the one who is dressed as a jester with a parrot on his
wrist, why did you put him into the picture?
A. He is there as an ornament, as it is usual to insert such
figures.
.
Q. And who are really the persons whom you admit to have
been present at this Supper?
A. I believe that there was only Christ and His Apostles; but
when I have some space left over in a picture I adorn it with
figures of my own invention.
Q. Did some person order you to paint Germans, buffoons, and
other similar figures in this picture?
A. No, but I was commissioned to adorn it as I thought proper;
now it is very large and can contain many figures.

I paint my pictures with all the considerations which are natural

to my intelligence, and according as my intelligence
understands them.

I repeat what I have said, that it is my duty to follow the

examples given me by my masters.

Feast at the House of Levi, detail

Feast at the House of Levi, detail

Did Veronese claim he was free to follow his own fancy reveling
in utmost liberty of self-expression?
Veronese said: Nui pittori si pigliamo licentia, che si pigliano i
poeti e i mattima se nel quadro li avanza spacio il ladorno di
figure come mi vien commesso et secondo le invenzioniIo
fazzo le pitture con quella considerazione che conveniente, che
il mio intelletto pu capire. What did he mean when he said that
painters use the same license as poets and madmen? He said
the canvas was very large and he had to fill it, for it was his duty
to follow the examples given him by his masters and adorn the
painting as he saw fit. He speaks of figures used as ornament.
Veronese was primarily concerned with the notion of grand
pictoric decoration [from decorare to decorate, from decus (gen.
decoris) an ornament," from PIE base *dek- to receive, be
suitable] and with the richness of formal invention [invenzione]. A
helpful bridge is Niklas Luhmann's understanding of
information: once information is expressed it is no longer
information per se; it has exhausted itself. Such is the case
of the many Last Supper scenes. Repetition itself is a form of
meta-information that can be interpreted as indicating the validity
of the repeated (now) non-information. A lot of communication will
typically take place on the level of meta-communication, i.e.
communication about communication. In meta-communication
one communicates not only about a particular content but also
about the effect that a communication has, in other words about
what difference the particular communication makes, and
about how it communicates.
The Inquisition ordered him to make changes. He agreed. In the
end, the only thing he did was to paint the words "FECIT D.
COVI. MAGNVS LEVI- LVCAE CAP. V" on the canvas, effectively
retitling the work Feast At The House of Levi, after an event that
he found in the Gospel of Luke.

The iconography of the

Last Supper.
A diachronic and
synchronic perspective.

Italo-Byzantine master
The Last Supper
c.1100
Fresco
Sant'Angelo in Formis

Anonymous master
Last Supper
Fresco
Iglesia de Santa Mara la Real
Valberzoso (Palencia)

Anonymous master
Last Supper
Fresco
San Justo
Segovia

Anonymous Romanesque master

The Last Supper
Fresco
San Isidoro de Len, Panten de los Reyes

Anonymous master
The Last Supper
Rouilhac, on The Way of Saint James

Anonymous Armenian master

The Last Supper
Gospel
1038
Parchment
Erevan, Matenadaran, Ms. 6201

Anonymous Armenian master

The Last Supper
Gospel
1045
Parchment
Erevan, Matenadaran, Ms. 363/ 3723

Anonymous Armenian master

The Last Supper
Gospel
1060
Parchment
Erevan, Matenadaran, Ms. 7736

Anonymous Byzantine master

The Last Supper
mid-11th to the early 13th century
Fresco
Karanlik (Dark) Church
Greme, Cappadocia, Turkey

Anonymous master
Last Supper
San Juan de la Pea (Huesca)

Anonymous Italian artist

The Last Supper
12th century
Duomo (Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta)
Volterra, Tuscany,

Master of the Magdalen

Last Supper
13th century
62 x 167 cm
Avignon, muse du Petit Palais

Anonymous Armenian master

Last Supper
Gospel, Arts'akh,
14th century
Erevan, Matenadaran MS 316

Giotto di Bondone
Last Supper
1304-06
Fresco, 200 x 185 cm
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

Duccio di Buoninsegna
Last Supper
1308-11
Tempera on wood
50 x 53 cm
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena

Pietro Lorenzetti
The Last Supper
c. 1320
Fresco
Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi

Mariotto di Nardo
known 1393-1424
The Last Supper
wood
37 x 15 cm
Nantes, muse des Beaux-Arts

Mariotto di Nardo
known 1393-1424
The Last Supper
wood
14 x 15 cm
Avignon, muse du Petit Palais

Anonymous Byzantine master

The Last Supper
Fresco
Udabno Lavra
Davit Gareja, Georgia

Anonymous Byzantine Master

The Last Supper
Fresco
St John Church
Gulsehir, Turkey

Taddeo Gaddi
Last Supper
1360s
Fresco
Museo dellOpera di Santa Croce, Florence

Jaume Serra
The Last Supper
1370-1400
Tempera on wood
Museo Nazionale, Palermo

Lorenzo Monaco
The Last Supper
1394-95
Poplar
47 x 142 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Anonymous master
The Last Supper
1425
Trinity Cathedral, Holy Trinity Lavra, Sergiev Posad, Russia

Anonymous master
The Last Supper
1497
Russia

Anonymous master
The Last Supper
16th century
Russia

Sassetta (Stefano di Giovanni di Consolo)

The Last Supper
about 1430-1432
Tempera and gold on panel
24 x 38 cm
Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale

Andrea del Castagno

Last Supper and Stories of Christ's Passion
1447
Fresco
453 x 975 cm (each fresco)
Sant'Apollonia, Florence

Anonymous Italian master

The Last Supper
Altar of San Bernardino Church
Albenga, Liguria

Jaume Huguet
Last Supper
c. 1470
Wood, 172 x 164 cm
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona

Master of Perea
The Last Supper
15th century

Domenico Ghirlandaio
Last Supper
1480
Fresco
400 x 880 cm
Ognissanti, Florence

Domenico Ghirlandaio
Last Supper
1486
Fresco
400 x 800 cm
Florence, San Marco

Dieric Bouts the Elder

Altarpiece of the Holy Sacrament
1464-67
Oil on wood
185 x 294 cm
Sint-Pieterskerk, Leuven

Master of the Housebook

The Last Supper
1475-80
Oak panel, 131 x 76 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Ercole de' Roberti

The Last Supper
1485
Egg tempera on wood
30 x 21 cm
The National Gallery, London

Fernando Gallego
The Last Supper
c. 1480-88
University of Arizona Museum of Art,Tucson

Luca Signorelli
The Last Supper
1502
Wood
Museo Diocesano, Cortona

Joos van Cleve the Elder

The Last Supper
Wood
45 x 206 cm
Muse du Louvre, Pars

Francisco Henriques
The Last Supper
c. 1508
Oil on canvas
121 x 89 cm
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon

Albrecht Drer
Small Passion. The Last Supper
1508-1509
Woodcut

Anonymous Greek master

Last Supper
1517
Museum of Byzantine art at the church of San Giorgio,
Venice

Anonymous Greek master

The Last Supper
16th century
Museum of Icons, Dubrovnik

Netherlandish (Antwerp Mannerist) Painter

The Last Supper,
triptych, 151520
Oil on wood
Overall, with shaped top and engaged frame:
central panel 119.4 x 85.7 cm;
left wing 119.4 x 42.9 cm; right wing 119.7 x 43.2 cm

Jrg Ratgeb
Last Supper
1519
Wood
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart

Andrea del Sarto

The Last Supper
1520-25
Fresco
525 x 871 cm
Convent of San Salvi, Florence

Tiziano Vecellio
Last Supper
1542-1544
Oil on canvas
163 x 104 cm
Palazzo Ducale, Urbino

Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)

The Last Supper
mid-1540s
121 by 216 cm.; 47 by 85 in. (with an
additional strip of 11cm.; 4 in. folded
along the top of the stretcher)
oil on canvas

Bernardino Lanino
Last Supper
San Nazaro Maggiore, Milan

Jacopo Bassano
The Last Supper
c. 1546
Oil on canvas
168 x 270 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome

Luis de Morales
The Last Supper
Wood
120 x 93,5 cm
Castello Ursino di Catania
Catania

Juan de Juanes
The Last Supper
1560s
Panel
116 x 191 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Juan de Juanes
The Last Supper
c. 1560
Oil on panel
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Theophanes the Cretan

The Last Supper
Middle 16th century
Fresco
Stavronikita Monastery, Athos

Michael Damaskins
The Last Supper
Tempera on wood
109 x 85 cm.
Collection of Christian Art
St Aikaterini of Sinai, Heraklion

Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco)

The Last Supper
c. 1568
Oil on panel
43 x 52 cm
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna

Fray Nicols Borrs

The Last Supper
1570s
Oil on panel
49 x 46 cm
Private collection

Anonymous German master

The Last Supper
Altar
Stiftskirche in Stift Quernheim

Martin de Vos
The Last Supper
Oil on canvas
146 x 212.5 cm
The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

Francesco Bassano the Younger

The Last Supper
Canvas
151 x 214 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)

The Last Supper
c. 1570
Oil on canvas
Santo Stefano, Venice

Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)

The Last Supper
c. 1570
Oil on canvas
228 x 535 cm
San Polo, Venice

Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)

Last Supper
1579-81
Oil on canvas
538 x 487 cm
Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)

The Last Supper
1592-94
Oil on canvas
365 x 568 cm
San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice

Alonso Vazquez
Last Supper
1588-1603
Oil on canvas
Museo de Bellas Artes, Seville

The iconography of the

Feast in the House of
Simon.
A diachronic and
synchronic perspective.

French school
Feast in the House of Simon
14th century
Illumination on parchment
18 x 14 cm.
Chantilly, muse Cond

Dionisy
Feast in the House of Simon the Pharisee
1502
Fresco
Cathedral Of The Nativity Of The Virgin,
Ferapontov Monastery, Russia

Anonymous English master

Feast in the House of Simon
15th century
Alabaster
Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts

French school
Speculum Humanae Salvationis
15th century
Illumination
Chantilly, muse Cond

Lucas Moser
Magdalene Altar
1432
Wood
St Mary Magdalene, Tiefenbronn

Dieric Bouts the Elder

Christ in the House of Simon
1440s
Oil on wood
40,5 x 61 cm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

Hesdin of Amiens
Christ's feet are anointed
c. 1450-55
Illumination
Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, The Hague
Notes: From a "Biblia Pauperum" (Bible of the Poor) (manuscript
"Den Haag, MMW, 10 A 15")

Jean Fouquet
Feast in the House of Simon
(Le Livre d'Heures d'Etienne Chevalier)
1452-60
Illumination
Chantilly, muse Cond

Nicolas Froment
Magdalene anoints the feet of Christ
1461
Oil on wood
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Master Franois
The Supper at Bethany, Christs Head is anointed by Mary Magdalene
c. 1475-80
Miniature
Manuscript MMW 10 A 11, book 1,13; Museum Meermanno Westreenianum,
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague

Fernando Gallego
The Supper in the House of Simon
c. 1480-88
University of Arizona Museum of Art,Tucson

Albrecht Bouts
Christ in the House of Simon
about 1490
Oil on panel
41 x 61 cm
Brussels, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van Belgie

Tilman Riemenschneider
Christ in the House of Simon (from the
left wing of the Mnnerstadt altarpiece)
1490-1492
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich

French school
Feast in the House of Simon
15th-16th century
Oil on wood
87 x 68 cm.
Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts

Sandro Botticelli
Pala delle Convertite: Feast in the House of Simon
about 1491-1493
Tempera on panel, 18.5 x 42.5 cm
London, Courtauld Institute Galleries, Lee Collection

Anonymous Netherlandish Master

1500-25
Miniature on vellum
Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, The Hague
Notes: From a Book of Hours and Prayer Book (use of Rome) of
Southern Netherlands (manuscript "Den Haag, MMW, 10 F 14"). Prayer
of the rosary.

Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)

Supper in the House of Simon
1562
2.150 m. x 1.460 m.
Italy, Padua, Museo Civico

Martin van Heemskerk

Magdalen washing the feet of Christ in
the House of Simon
1566
Pen and ink on paper
20.5 x 25.5 cm
Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London

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Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco)

The Feast in the House of Simon
1608/1614
Oil on canvas
143.3 x 100.4 cm
Art Institute of Chicago

The Merging of the Two Previous Scenes

Anonymous Master, Illustrator of Petrus Comestor's

'Bible Historiale'
1372
Miniature
Museum Meermanno Westreenianum, The Hague
Notes: From Petrus Comestor's "Bible Historiale"
(manuscript "Den Haag, MMW, 10 B 23"). Two
scenes seem to be merged in this picture.

Pedro Berruguete and Workshop

The Last Supper
c. 1495-1500
Distemper on linen
189.55 x 330.84 cm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
(Two scenes seem to be merged in this picture)