PAOLO VERONESE: A Master and His Workshop in Renaissance Venice

When I began working at the Ringling Museum in 2008, I was charged with developing exhibitions based around major works in our Old Master collection. The Museum owns many great paintings, but Veronese’s Rest on the Flight into Egypt stood out. A public favorite, the work was also the first Old Master painting John Ringling ever acquired. Ringling, who loved Italy and Venice especially, also later purchased two portraits related to the artist. I soon decided that I wanted to build an exhibition around these three works! Paolo Veronese: A Master and His Workshop in Renaissance Venice (December 7, 2012–April 14, 2013), is that exhibition.

Paolo Veronese (1528–1588) is one of the giants of Venetian painting. For centuries, visitors to Venice have been awestruck by Veronese’s grand ceiling paintings and large Biblical feasts. Yet throughout his enormously successful career, Veronese and his workshop also created imposing altarpieces and smaller religious paintings for private devotion or collectors, portraits and episodes drawn from ancient mythology. He was also an outstanding draughtsman. In this exhibition, you will discover many of the finest paintings and drawings by Veronese now in North American museums and private hands, as well as a selection of prints after the artist.

When you visit the exhibition, there will be a lot to look at – more than seventy paintings, drawings, prints, autographed letters and textiles. But keep an eye out for some of my favorite things:

• Veronese drew and painted the same subjects again and again, and you will have several chances in the show to look at groups of paintings and drawings with the same subject. Challenge yourself to figure out how the artist got from drawing to painting, and how and when and why he changed his mind!

• Veronese reused successful figures and motifs over and over again in his paintings and drawings. The angel in the left-hand corner of the Ringling’s Rest has a “twin” in another painting in the exhibition. Can you find him?

• Some of the most splendid silks made during the Renaissance come from Venice, and Veronese excelled at depicting them. In the exhibition, several fine and rarely seen textiles lent to us by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston will be displayed beside paintings in the exhibition that feature marvelous draperies, offering you a chance to compare real and ideal. An extra set of labels in the show will also tell you a little more about the fabulous fabrics and glorious garments in the paintings.

• The exhibition concludes with a little Art of Our Time, a giant photograph featuring Veronese’s Feast in the House of Levi, Thomas Struth’s 1992 Galleria dell’Accademia 1, Venice (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), which shows tourists looking at paintings by Veronese.

In 1660, Marco Boschini described Veronese’s work: “This is not painting, it is magic that casts a spell on people who see it.” I hope that in this exhibition, you too will experience a glimpse of Veronese’s magic.

Related programs

A Conversation with the Collector: Warren J. Coville

Wednesday, November 14, 7:30 pm

Historic Asolo Theater

Be a part of the conversation between photography collector Warren J. Coville and Dr. Matthew McLendon, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, as an introduction to this significant gift to the Museum.

Photography on Film

Thursday, November 15, 5:30 - 9:00 pm

Friday & Saturday, November 16 & 17, 1:00 - 4:30 pm

Historic Asolo Theater

• Berenice Abbot: A View of the 20th Century

• Master of Photography: Edward Steichen

• Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Impassioned Eye

ViewPoint: Forming History

Saturday, November 3, 10:30 am

Historic Asolo Theater

Thomas Southall, Independent Curator, Author, and Lecturer

Southall reveals the formal elements that make a powerful and lasting photograph, thus helping us re-examine our understanding of the art of photography. Reception follows the lecture.

Gallery Walk and Talks

Thursday, November 29:

Peter Acker, Commercial Photographer

Thursday, January 31: Sally Pettibon, Photographer, RCAD Faculty

Close Ups: Conversations in the galleries with two of our community’s photographers. Join us as they share their insights on specific works in the Coville exhibition.