\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 Italian painter.\par
Born to a family of artists (his father was a stonecutter), Paolo is recorded as an apprentice in the
workshop of Antonio Badile in 1541. In 1548, however, he was already working in his own right on the \i Bevilacqua Altarpiece\i0 for the church of San Fermo in Verona (now in the Museo di Castelvecchio). It was his first major undertaking. In 1551 he wa
s at work on the Villa Soranzo at Castelfranco Veneto, where for the first time he found himself collaborating with an architect (in this case Sanmicheli), something that was to become a constant feature of his career. In 1552 Veronese went to Mantua to
work for Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga, but by the following year was already in Venice. There he painted one of the masterpieces of his early period, the mythological and allegorical canvases for the Sala dei Dieci in the DogeÆs Palace. Here we see the forms
set out in a stately rhythm in space and a decorative taste that sets the artist apart from the warm tonality of Titian or the chiaroscuro of Tintoretto. After the majestic \i Giustiniani Altarpiece\i0 in San Francesco della Vigna (1555), Veronese began
to work for the church of San Sebastiano, painting a series of decorative canvases as well as the pictures for the high altar and two side altars. In these works he uses a palette of light and luminous tones that creates iridescent effects in the precio
us drapery. At the end of this fertile period come the frescoes in Villa Barbaro at Maser, painted around 1560 in the villa designed by Andrea Palladio. Over the course of his long stay in Venice, Veronese painted many works for the cityÆs churches, such
as the \i San Zaccaria Altarpiece\i0 (Venice, Galleria dell'Accademia), as well as historical subjects. The canvas depicting \i The Family of Darius Before Alexander\i0 (London, National Gallery) belongs to the latter category. In these canvases Veron
ese developed a decorative and opulent style of painting, using naturalistic elements to magnificent ornamental effect. This tendency reached its peak in his \i Suppers\i0 , the painterÆs favorite subject, culminating in the \i Feast in the House of Levi
\i0 of 1573. Here the density of the narration provides a stimulus for VeroneseÆs portrait-painting skills, allowing him to depict crowds in brilliant colors and create majestic settings. Alongside this masterpiece of his maturity should be placed the c
anvases representing the \i Virtues\i0 and \i Allegories of Venus\i0 painted for the Sala del Collegio in the DogeÆs Palace (1575-77). A few years later Veronese painted a \i Triumph of Venice\i0 for the Sala del Maggior Consiglio in the same building
. It was only in the last decade of his life that the artist rejoined the main current of Venetian painting, using more mellow colors like Titian and Jacopo Bassano. The \i Finding of Moses\i0 (Madrid, Museo del Prado) and the \i Allegories of Love\i0
painted for Emperor Rudolf II (now in London, National Gallery) are examples of this.
