In Focus: Veronese

Useful online lecture from the National Gallery on the life and work of 16th century Venetian artist, Veronese.

Sian Walters led us through the artists career with an emphasis on work in the National Gallery and excellent illustrations. She talked about how he fell out of fashion and how when the gallery proposed buying “The Family of Darius Before Alexander” in 1857 the purchase was discussed in Parliament and he was described as “second rate”.

We discussed how he differed from his contemporaries Titian and Tintoretto as well as his collaboration with the architect Palladio on the decoration of palace and villas in and around Venice.

The talk emphasised the range of his work from large frescos for monastery refectories to portraits of the merchants of the city and their wives.

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