The epoch of his most fertile production was between 1562 and 1565; it was also the period in which he executed his largest and most celebrated paintings, notably his famous canvas of the Wedding at Cana, his Feast at the House of the Pharisee, his Feast at the House of the Leper, and his Feast at the House of Simon.
These four pictures are known under the name of the four Feasts. Two of them belong to France and hang in the museum of the Louvre, in the room known by the name of the Salon Carré; these are the Feast at the House of Simon the Pharisee and the Wedding at Cana.
THE WEDDING AT CANA
Veronese has treated this subject twice. Accordingly the picture in the Louvre must not be confounded with that of the same name in the Brera museum at Milan. In spite of the value of the latter, it bears no comparison to the gigantic canvas in the national museum of France.
(In the National Gallery, London)
This picturesque painting is one of the most curious of all Veronese’s works. It was painted in return for the hospitality which he received from the Pisani family, and all the figures in it are portraits of members of the household. Another point worthy of note is the anachronism of the warriors clad in Roman armour standing before the kneeling women, who are dressed in the manner of the sixteenth century.
This picture of the Wedding at Cana was painted by Veronese for the refectory of the convent of San Giorgio Maggiore, on the island that faces the Riva dei Schiavoni. It remained there until the time of Napoleon’s Italian Campaign. Bonaparte, who loved the arts without understanding them, laid profane hands on the great majority of Italian masterpieces. This painting by Veronese was one of the number, and found a place in the Louvre. The treaty of 1815 obliged France to restore these treasures, but the Austrian commissioners, appointed to accomplish the restitution, became alarmed at the difficulties of transportation which the Wedding at Cana presented. They accordingly consented to exchange this canvas for a painting by Le Brun, The Feast at the House of the Pharisee. Veronese’s masterpiece remained in the Louvre, in which it is one of the most flawless gems.