The Wedding at Cana [Paolo Veronese]

The Wedding at Cana (or The Wedding Feast at Cana) is a massive oil painting (666 cm × 990 cm – 262 in × 390 in) by Paolo Veronese, the Italian late-Renaissance or Mannerist painter. He is most famous for large history paintings of both religious and mythological subjects. The painting is on display in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, where it is the largest painting in that museum’s collection.

The Wedding at Cana (or The Wedding Feast at Cana) by Paolo Veronese
The Wedding at Cana (or The Wedding Feast at Cana) is a massive oil painting by the late Renaissance or Mannerist Italian painter Paolo Veronese. It is on display in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, where it is the largest painting in that museum’s collection.

Veronese’s The Wedding at Cana

Painted in 1562-1563, was also a collaboration with the architect Andrea Palladio, the work depicts the Wedding Feast at Cana, a miracle story from the Christian New Testament. In the story, Jesus and his disciples were invited to a wedding celebration in Cana in Galilee. Towards the end of the feast, when the wine was running out, Jesus commanded servants to fill jugs with water, which he then turned into wine (his first miracle of seven, as recounted in the Gospel according to John).

In the painting, the wedding feast is depicted in great detail, with a large number of guests shown in elaborate Renaissance dresses. Jesus is shown in the center of the painting, standing behind a table with his disciples, while a servant pours the miraculous wine into the guests’ cups.

The painting is notable for its use of bright colors, intricate details, and dramatic lighting, which create a sense of grandeur and spectacle. It is also known for its inclusion of various secular elements, such as the presence of dogs and exotic animals, which were common in Venetian paintings of the time.

Period artists as musicians

The Wedding at Cana [Veronese] - detail: Jesus and musicians
A detail from Paolo Veronese’s The Wedding at Cana, 1562-1563. The small orchestra right under Jesus contains the artists of the time: the musicians are from the left to the right Paolo Veronese himself with a tenor viol, Jacopo Bassano with the treble cornett, Tintoretto with the violin, and Titian with the bass viol.

The small orchestra in the middle of the painting contains the artists of the time: the musicians are from the left to the right Paolo Veronese himself with a tenor viol, Jacopo Bassano with the treble cornett, Tintoretto with the violin and Titian with the bass viol.

Also, a more recent study links the identity of the performer seated behind Veronese playing viola da gamba with Diego Ortiz (c. 1510 – c. 1576), the Spanish composer and music theorist, and then chapel master at the court of Naples.

Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian, was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno (in Veneto, Republic of Venice). During his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, taken from the place of his birth. Other writers contemporary to his old age give figures which would equate to birthdates between 1473 and 1482. He reached the old age of possibly between 88 or 94, or even more – according to different sources.

Tintoretto (born Jacopo Comin, late September or early October 1518 – May 31, 1594) was an Italian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting, he was termed Il Furioso. His work is characterized by its muscular figures, dramatic gestures, and bold use of perspective in the Mannerist style while maintaining color and light typical of the Venetian School.

Jacopo Bassano (1510 – 14 February 1592), known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, from which he adopted the name. A pupil of Bonifazio Veronese’s, he painted mostly landscapes and genre scenes. Bassano’s pictures, and those of his two sons, Leandro Bassano and Francesco Bassano the Younger, who followed him closely, were very popular in Venice because of their depiction of simple country life. Bassano is considered to be the first modern landscape painter.

The wedding at Cana (detail): Suleiman the Magnificent also appears at the table
The wedding at Cana (detail): Suleiman the Magnificent also appears at the table (the bearded man in yellows). He was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566.

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres
M. Özgür Nevres

I am Özgür Nevres, a software engineer, a former road racing cyclist, and also an amateur musician. I opened andantemoderato.com to share my favorite music. I also take care of stray cats & dogs. This website's all income goes directly to our furry friends. Please consider supporting me on Patreon, so I can help more animals!

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