Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/115

* VERONA. 85 VERONESE. town. From the Celts it ijasscd uiiilcr Roman rule as a colony in n.c. 80, and was wpaltliy and important. Theodorie the Great made it a njyal seat. It fell to the Lnnihards, wliosc Kiny, Alboin, met liis death at Verona. From the rule of the Lombards Verona passed under that of the FranUish King Pepin. It was at the head of the Italian cities that resisted the sway of Frederick Barbarossa. It shared in the terrible struggles between Guelph and Cihibelline. It came under the power of the great Ghibelline Scala or Scaliger family in the middle of the thirteenth century, its rulers being called podestils. This celebrated family made of it a sumptuous and famous city, and their name is inseparably linked vith it. Dante found a refuge with Can Grande della Reala after being driven from Florence. Early in the four- teenth centur.y Verona extended its sva.y and brought Padua and Viceiiza under its control, and also Brescia, Parma, and even the dis- tant Lucca. The city's ambitions werej how- ever, checked by the alliance of Jlilan, Flor- ence, and Venice. It became subject to Venice in 1405. It was powerfully fortified by Sammi- clieli in 1527. It passed to Austria on the ex- tinction of the Venetian Republic in 1797. The Austrians .strongly fortified it after 1814, and made it a pivot of their famous Quadri- lateral. In the winter of 1822 it was the meet- ing place of a congress of European monarehs and diplomats which under the guidance of Metternich (q.v.) determined upon the interven- tion of the Holy Alliance (q.v.) for the sup- jiression of the Spanish Revolution. Verona became a part of the Kingdom of Italy in 18GG. Consult: Da Perini. ^toria. di Verona del 1190 al 1S22 (Verona, 1873-85) ; Wiel, The Story of Verona (London, 1902). VERONESE, va'ro-na'za, Paul (properly Paolo Caliari or Cagliari) (1528-88). A painter of the Veronese school, who be- came one of the chief masters of the Venetian Renaissance. He was born at Verona, the son of Gabriele Caliari, a sculptor, from wb.om he learned modeling before taking up painting with Antonio Badile. He was. perhaps, even more inlluenced liy painters of the ]5rcvious generation, especiallv' by Domenico Bruxacorsi. In 1548 he was summoned, with other Veronese artists, to decorate the Cathedral of Mantua. None of these decorations survive. On his return to Verona he was employed to fresco a room in the Contarini Palace with antique historical subjects, which have recently been uncovered. In 1551 he was charged by the architect Sammiclieli with the decoration of Villa Soranza. near Castelfranco. and .soon afterwards he decorated Villa Emo (now Fanzolo) in the same vicinity. Fragments of the former frescoes are preserved in Castel- franco and in England, but the latter remain in situ, though in a damaged condition. They represent scenes from ancient history, classic myths, and contemporary life. In both of these tasks he was assisted by Battista Zelotti. Veronese's early works are in the silver-gray tone peculiar to Veronese art. and the decoration just mentioned already contained the character- istic qualities of his fully developed style. He was summoned to Venice in 1555 by his coun- tryman, the prior of San Selxistiano, from whom he received the commissions which have made this little church a museum of his works. He began (1555) the decoration of the ceiling of the sacristy with the "Coronation of the Virgin" and in the pcndentivej the "Kour Evangelists;" in 1550 he linished the three panels of the ceil- ing of the nave with subjects from the "Life of Esther;" and in 1558 the altar-piece, a ".Ma- donna in Glory, with Four Saints," and the walls of the church with scenes from the "Life of Saint Sebastian," etc. In 15G0 he completed the paintings on the doors of the organ, the "Pool of Bethesda," the "Purification of Mary," and a "Nativity;" he also modeled the (U'nanient of the organ. For several years following he was engaged in other work, and not until 1505 did he complete the splendid paintings of the choir walls, "The .Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian" and "Saints Mark and Macellinus Going to Their E.xccution." Besides these decorati<ms there are some fine altar-pieces by Paolo in the church. In competition with the great Venetian masters he greatly improved his work, both as to color, which became richer and more harmonious, and as to form, which became nobler. In 1556 Veronese vLsited his native city, where he portrayed Pace Guarienti in full armor (Pina- coteca, Verona), and painted the "Deposition from the Cross" in Santa Maria della Vittoria. A sec- ond visit in 1500 was the occasion of his marriage to the daughter of his former master, Badile. In 1500 he decorated the villa at Tiene, near Vicenza, with a series of historical frescoes, which are among the most remarkable of his works. Among the best subjects represented are "Cleo- patra's Banquet" and "Sophronisba meeting Masi'nissa." Veronese's frescoes in San Sebastiano had met with the hearty approval of Titian, who assigned to him an important part of the decoration of the Library (now the Royal Palace), which San- sovino had just completed. His subjects, the al- legories of "Music," "Mathematics," and "Fame," treated in the form of episodes, were by general consent pronounced the best in the library. To this period (15S1-02) also belong his earlier paintings in the Sala de' Dieei (Ducal Palace) ; of these ".Jupiter Destroying the Giants" is in the Louvre, and ".Juno Showering Treasures upon Venice" at Brussels ; only an "Old Man with a Young Woman" remains! His principal decora- tion in the Sala della Bussola, "Saint Mark with the Lion," is also in the Louvre; but his grand painting of the "Homage of Frederick I." in the Hall of the Great Council was destroyed ra the fire of 1577. About the same time Veronese began his cele- brated series of banquet scenes for the refectories of Venetian monasteries, in which the Scriptural subject is a mere pretext for the rendition of a luxurious Venetian feast, in all the splendor of contemporary co.stume. In the "JIarriage at Cana" (150.3. Louvre), a colossal picture con- taining 130 figures, he represented the chief notables of Europe and Venice as the par- ticipants. The bridal couple are Francis I. of France and Eleanor of Austria ; and as a group of musicians in the foregroimd he portrayed the principal painters of Venice, Titian, Tin- toretto, and himself among them; while on a balustrade in the background curious Venetians watch the spectacle. Another celebrated "Mar-