1573, Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari), The Feast in the House of Levi (detail) -- Gallerie dell'Accademia (Venice)
From the museum label: This painting was made for the refectory of the Dominican convent of Santi Giovanni e Paolo to replace Last Supper by Titian that was destroyed in a fire (1571). An inscription indicates the date the picture was completed and identifies the subject as the great banquet that Levi (renamed Matthew when be became an apostle) held for Jesus. Veronese changed the title following accusations from the Venetian Inquisition, who, disapproving of the presence of "inappropriate" characters such as the bleeding servant (to the left on the stairs), the dwarf with the parrot, and the German halberdiers, summoned him before them. Veronese explained that these were ornamental figures that he kept separate from the holy space where the banquet was set and that were used by painters for compositional purposes. By declaring that he, as a painter, had taken the same license as poets and jesters," Veronese made the case for artists' creative liberty.
1573, Paolo Veronese (Paolo Caliari), The Feast in the House of Levi (detail) -- Gallerie dell'Accademia (Venice)
From the museum label: This painting was made for the refectory of the Dominican convent of Santi Giovanni e Paolo to replace Last Supper by Titian that was destroyed in a fire (1571). An inscription indicates the date the picture was completed and identifies the subject as the great banquet that Levi (renamed Matthew when be became an apostle) held for Jesus. Veronese changed the title following accusations from the Venetian Inquisition, who, disapproving of the presence of "inappropriate" characters such as the bleeding servant (to the left on the stairs), the dwarf with the parrot, and the German halberdiers, summoned him before them. Veronese explained that these were ornamental figures that he kept separate from the holy space where the banquet was set and that were used by painters for compositional purposes. By declaring that he, as a painter, had taken the same license as poets and jesters," Veronese made the case for artists' creative liberty.