Feast in the House of Levi

This depiction of the Last Supper was commissioned by the refectory of the Basilica di Santa Giovanni e Paolo in 1571. After Veronese had finished the very large painting, the commissioners were not happy with it due to the figures that were put in the painting that were never mentioned in the Bible.[1]. Veronese claimed that he was merely exercising his artistic license, which poets and writers do all the time. [2] The church then interrogated the artist about it because since the Protestant Reformation was going on at that time, this depiction of this holy scene could have shown irreverence. The painting's name was the switched to Feast in the House of Levi to appease the commissioners.  The new subject of the painting is from the gospel of Luke, chapter 5, in which was a large feast with multitudes of guests is prepared by Levi all for Jesus. [3]

[1]Garton, John. "Paolo Veronese’s Art of Business: Painting, Investment, and the Studio as Social Nexus." Renaissance Quarterly 65, no. 3 (2012): 753-808. 
[2] Potter, Polyxeni. "Nature hath fram'd strange fellows in her time." Emerging Infectious Diseases 13, no. 9 (2007): 1443+. Gale In Context: Science
[3] SALOMON, XAVIER F. The Burlington Magazine 154, no. 1313 (2012): 581-83.

The large white archways and Corinthian style marble pillars immediately give Veronese's painting a classical architectual syle and a sense of grandeur.  The archways are large and ornate and give views into the large banquet taking place.  The space between the pillars and tops of the arches is filled by impressions of golden angels with flowing cloaks that seem to be reclining on the archways.  The two large pillars in this piece match up with the frame to create a sense of uniformity and further implore three dimensionalities of the painting.  Through the arches lies a dulled white city silhouetted by a grey, stormy sky.  The city is intricately detailed with columns, arches and façades making up the grand buildings.  People can be seen in the buildings standing on balconies and at windows who seem to be peering towards the large gathering.  Inside the actual feast lies a wide variety of colors, people, and animals.  At the center of the table is Jesus seated with a faint golden halo surrounding his head.  Servants can be seen serving food and drink to Levi's guests.  Around the table the audience can see a variety of animals from two dogs near the focal point of the painting to the bird in the hands of a midget.  Veronese packed this painting with interesting characters like midgets, children, venetian soldiers, and even Muslims when none of them were present in the biblical version of the last supper.  All of the characters' clothing is intricately detailed to make it look like it is flowing naturally and given unique texturization.  Veronese created his own modernized and altered version of the last supper painting, which was very quickly rejected by the church and therefore had to be renamed.

Paolo Veronese

1. Potter, Polyxeni. "Nature hath fram'd strange fellows in her time." Emerging Infectious Diseases 13, no. 9 (2007): 1443+. Gale In Context: Science (accessed September 30, 2020). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A168510907/SCIC?u=duke_perkins&sid=SCIC&xid=77ef8249.
2. d Accessed September 30, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41812750.
3. Garton, John. "Paolo Veronese’s Art of Business: Painting, Investment, and the Studio as Social Nexus." Renaissance Quarterly 65, no. 3 (2012): 753-808. Accessed September 30, 2020. doi:10.1086/668301. 4. Paolo Veronese. 1571-73. Feast in the House of Levi. painting. Place: Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia. https://library.artstor.org/asset/SCALA_ARCHIVES_1031314658.

Refectory of the Basilica di Santa Giovanni e Paolo

1571-1573

Darien Sansosti

(c) 2006, SCALA, Florence/ART RESOURCE, N.Y.

556 x 1280 cm

Painting, Oil on canvas

Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia
Venice, Italy