The Wedding at Cana
Encyclopedia
This refers to the work of art of the 16th century.
The Wedding at Cana (or The Wedding Feast at Cana) is a massive painting by the late-Renaissance
or Mannerist Italian
painter, Paolo Veronese
. It is on display in the Musée du Louvre in Paris
.
, a miracle
story from the Christian
New Testament
. In the story Jesus
and his disciples were invited to a wedding celebration in Cana
in the 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).
The piece was commissioned in 1562 by the Benedictine
Monastery
of San Giorgio Maggiore
in Venice, Italy, and completed in fifteen months by the year 1563. It hung in the refectory
of the monastery for 235 years, until it was plundered by Napoléon in 1797, and shipped to Paris
. The painting was cut in half for the journey and stitched back together in Paris. In the post-Napoléonic conciliation treaties which pursued some restitution of looted artworks, this was not returned, and in its stead, a feeble Charles Le Brun
painting (now at the Gallerie dell'Accademia) was shipped to Venice.
The painting was taken to Brest
and stored in a box during the Franco-Prussian War
, and during World War II
, rolled up and moved around France in a truck.
In 1989, the Louvre began a $1 million renovation, comparable to the work done on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
. A group of artists calling themselves the Association to Protect the Integrity of Artistic Heritage protested and demanded a review of the restoration. In June 1992, with the restoration incomplete, the Louvre was embarrassed when the painting suffered damage in two separate incidents. In the first, the canvas was spattered by water from a leaking air vent. In the second, two days later, curators were raising the 1.5 ton painting to a higher position on the wall when one of the supports gave way, and the entire painting toppled to the floor. The metal framework tore five holes in the canvas, one of them four feet long; architectural and background areas of the painting were affected, but no faces. The museum was criticized for keeping the incident private for an entire month while rumors swirled.
On 11 September, 2007, the 210th anniversary of the looting of the painting by Napoleon's troops, a facsimile of the original was hung in its original place in the Palladian Refectory. The computerized facsimile was commissioned by the Giorgio Cini Foundation of Venice with the collaboration of the Musée du Louvre, Paris, where the original remains, and made by the Factum Arte Institute of Madrid, headed by the British artist Adam Lowe. It consists of 1,591 computer graphic files. (See http://www.factum-arte.com/eng/conservacion/cana/default.asp).
and Corinthian
columns surrounding an open courtyard walled by a low balustrade. In the distance stands a fanciful, arcaded tower. In the foreground, a group of musicians sits playing late Renaissance
instruments (lute
s and early strings). Tradition holds that the artist painted himself in this area, dressed in a white tunic and holding a viola da gamba, while Titian
is seated opposite in red. Other people thought to be portrayed in the painting are Eleanor of Austria, Francis I of France
, Mary I of England
, Suleiman the Magnificent
, Vittoria Colonna
, Emperor Charles V, Marcantonio Barbaro
, Daniele Barbaro
, Giulia Gonzaga
, Cardinal Pole, Triboulet
, and Sokollu Mehmet Paşa.
The assembly is sumptuously dressed in a timeless finery, some with orientalized touches. Behind the musicians, Jesus and his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary (an elder woman in simple dress), are seated with halos. Jesus is perhaps the only one who impassively looks straight on at the observer. Above Jesus, on an elevated balcony or walkway, several men butcher the meat of an unidentified animal. To their right more meat is also being brought in.
Art critics generally think this animal is a lamb, considering Jesus is the sacrificed "Lamb of God
", or Agnus Dei. The butchered lamb is therefore symbolic of his future sacrifice. Christ is placed directly under the blade. Towards the bottom right part of the picture, there is a man pouring wine from a huge, ornate jug. Next to him stands a man studying a glass of wine. On the left, a man is proffered wine by a dark-skinned boy. A dwarf holds a parrot. Although many of the characters in the painting are holding wine glasses, none appear to be intoxicated, but are healthily enjoying the feast.
This vertical axis is also highly symbolic. Above Christ the lamb is being butchered, beneath Christ are musicians. In front of the musicians there is an hourglass, which in art refers to "vanity". There coexist earthly pleasures such as music, as well as reminders of mortality.
In this sense, the religious symbolism
takes preeminence over the logic of banqueting protocol. Thus, while the guests -Jesus, the Virgin Mary and some of the Apostles- sit at the center, "the bride and groom are seated at the left end of the table" (from the point of view of the spectator).
The feast is well attended; over 130 figures crowd the painting, and not a single one is visibly speaking. This is because the painting was commissioned for a Benedictine Monastery, and silence in their refectory was strictly observed. The center of the painting is dominated by a vast blue sky, important because it opened up the room where the painting was originally hung.
This was not Veronese's only sally into the depiction of throngs; the meal in his painting at the House of Levi also depicts a multitude. There were likely many reasons for this choice. Painters were often paid by the figure; it also offered an opportunity to concentrate on festive coloration, or demonstrate skill at composition, without having to overly dramatize the individual gesture. Painting crowds, however, was not without risk, for the variety of pedestrian intrusions of dogs and sundry persons into the Levi painting drew the attention of the Inquisition
.
In addition, the number of figures apt for a painting became a fevered controversy for artists; for example, in the next century, Andrea Sacchi
argued that only a few figures (less than a dozen) could permit an artist to honestly depict an individualized and unique expression, while Pietro da Cortona
thought armies of figures could consolidate a general image. Joshua Reynolds
, the premier English painter of his day , said:
, as the food on the table is sugar, fruits and (according to at least one art curator at the Louvre) quince jam
. Ironically it also appears as though the main course is being prepared (butchered animals). This further credits the theory that the animals are lambs, and their purpose is symbolic, not practical.
The Wedding at Cana (or The Wedding Feast at Cana) is a massive painting by the late-Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
or Mannerist Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
painter, Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi...
. It is on display in the Musée du Louvre in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
History
The painting depicts the Wedding Feast at CanaMarriage at Cana
In Christianity, the transformation of water into wine at the Marriage at Cana or Wedding at Cana is the first miracle of Jesus in the Gospel of John....
, a miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
story from the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. In the story Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and his disciples were invited to a wedding celebration in Cana
Cana
In the Christian New Testament, the Gospel of John refers a number of times to a town called Cana of Galilee.-The marriage at Cana:Among Christians and other students of the New Testament, Cana is best known as the place where, according to the Fourth Gospel, Jesus performed his first public...
in the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
. 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).
The piece was commissioned in 1562 by the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
Monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of San Giorgio Maggiore
San Giorgio Monastery
The San Giorgio Monastery was a Benedictine monastery in Venice, Italy, located on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. It stands next to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, which formerly served the monastic community, and currently serves as the headquarters of the Cini Foundation.-Foundation:The...
in Venice, Italy, and completed in fifteen months by the year 1563. It hung in the refectory
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
of the monastery for 235 years, until it was plundered by Napoléon in 1797, and shipped to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The painting was cut in half for the journey and stitched back together in Paris. In the post-Napoléonic conciliation treaties which pursued some restitution of looted artworks, this was not returned, and in its stead, a feeble Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun
Charles Le Brun , a French painter and art theorist, became the all-powerful, peerless master of 17th-century French art.-Biography:-Early life and training:...
painting (now at the Gallerie dell'Accademia) was shipped to Venice.
The painting was taken to Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
and stored in a box during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
, and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, rolled up and moved around France in a truck.
In 1989, the Louvre began a $1 million renovation, comparable to the work done on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
Sistine Chapel ceiling
The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, at the commission of Pope Julius II, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The ceiling is that of the large Papal Chapel built within the Vatican between 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV after whom it is named...
. A group of artists calling themselves the Association to Protect the Integrity of Artistic Heritage protested and demanded a review of the restoration. In June 1992, with the restoration incomplete, the Louvre was embarrassed when the painting suffered damage in two separate incidents. In the first, the canvas was spattered by water from a leaking air vent. In the second, two days later, curators were raising the 1.5 ton painting to a higher position on the wall when one of the supports gave way, and the entire painting toppled to the floor. The metal framework tore five holes in the canvas, one of them four feet long; architectural and background areas of the painting were affected, but no faces. The museum was criticized for keeping the incident private for an entire month while rumors swirled.
On 11 September, 2007, the 210th anniversary of the looting of the painting by Napoleon's troops, a facsimile of the original was hung in its original place in the Palladian Refectory. The computerized facsimile was commissioned by the Giorgio Cini Foundation of Venice with the collaboration of the Musée du Louvre, Paris, where the original remains, and made by the Factum Arte Institute of Madrid, headed by the British artist Adam Lowe. It consists of 1,591 computer graphic files. (See http://www.factum-arte.com/eng/conservacion/cana/default.asp).
Painting details
The scene depicts a mixture of contemporary and antique details. The architecture is classic Greco-Roman, a DoricDoric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
and Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns surrounding an open courtyard walled by a low balustrade. In the distance stands a fanciful, arcaded tower. In the foreground, a group of musicians sits playing late Renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
instruments (lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
s and early strings). Tradition holds that the artist painted himself in this area, dressed in a white tunic and holding a viola da gamba, while Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
is seated opposite in red. Other people thought to be portrayed in the painting are Eleanor of Austria, Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
, Mary I of England
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
, Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I was the tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1520 to his death in 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the East, as "The Lawgiver" , for his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system...
, Vittoria Colonna
Vittoria Colonna
Vittoria Colonna , marchioness of Pescara, was an Italian noblewoman and poet.-Biography:The daughter of Fabrizio Colonna, grand constable of the kingdom of Naples, and of Agnese da Montefeltro, Vittoria Colonna was born at Marinoa fief of the Colonna family in the Alban Hills near Rome.Betrothed...
, Emperor Charles V, Marcantonio Barbaro
Marcantonio Barbaro
Marcantonio Barbaro was an Italian diplomat of the Republic of Venice.-Family:He was born in Venice into the aristocratic Barbaro family...
, Daniele Barbaro
Daniele Barbaro
Daniele Matteo Alvise Barbaro was an Italian translator of, and commentator on, Vitruvius. He also had a significant ecclesiastical career, reaching the rank of Cardinal....
, Giulia Gonzaga
Giulia Gonzaga
Giulia Gonzaga was an Italian noblewoman of the Renaissance.-Biography:Giulia was born in Gazzuolo in 1512. In 1526 she was married to count Vespasiano Colonna , count of Fondi and duke of Traetto...
, Cardinal Pole, Triboulet
Triboulet
Triboulet was a microcephalic jester of kings Louis XII and Francis I of France.He appears in Victor Hugo's Le Roi s'amuse and its opera version, Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto: "Rigoletto" was a blend of "Triboulet" and French rigoler , intending to deflect the censorship that Hugo's work had received...
, and Sokollu Mehmet Paşa.
The assembly is sumptuously dressed in a timeless finery, some with orientalized touches. Behind the musicians, Jesus and his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary (an elder woman in simple dress), are seated with halos. Jesus is perhaps the only one who impassively looks straight on at the observer. Above Jesus, on an elevated balcony or walkway, several men butcher the meat of an unidentified animal. To their right more meat is also being brought in.
Art critics generally think this animal is a lamb, considering Jesus is the sacrificed "Lamb of God
Lamb of God
The title Lamb of God appears in the Gospel of John, with the exclamation of John the Baptist: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" in John 1:29 when he sees Jesus....
", or Agnus Dei. The butchered lamb is therefore symbolic of his future sacrifice. Christ is placed directly under the blade. Towards the bottom right part of the picture, there is a man pouring wine from a huge, ornate jug. Next to him stands a man studying a glass of wine. On the left, a man is proffered wine by a dark-skinned boy. A dwarf holds a parrot. Although many of the characters in the painting are holding wine glasses, none appear to be intoxicated, but are healthily enjoying the feast.
This vertical axis is also highly symbolic. Above Christ the lamb is being butchered, beneath Christ are musicians. In front of the musicians there is an hourglass, which in art refers to "vanity". There coexist earthly pleasures such as music, as well as reminders of mortality.
In this sense, the religious symbolism
Symbolism
Symbolism is the applied use of symbols. It is a representation that carries a particular meaning. It is a device in literature where an object represents an idea.A symbol is an object, action, or idea that represents something other than itself....
takes preeminence over the logic of banqueting protocol. Thus, while the guests -Jesus, the Virgin Mary and some of the Apostles- sit at the center, "the bride and groom are seated at the left end of the table" (from the point of view of the spectator).
The feast is well attended; over 130 figures crowd the painting, and not a single one is visibly speaking. This is because the painting was commissioned for a Benedictine Monastery, and silence in their refectory was strictly observed. The center of the painting is dominated by a vast blue sky, important because it opened up the room where the painting was originally hung.
This was not Veronese's only sally into the depiction of throngs; the meal in his painting at the House of Levi also depicts a multitude. There were likely many reasons for this choice. Painters were often paid by the figure; it also offered an opportunity to concentrate on festive coloration, or demonstrate skill at composition, without having to overly dramatize the individual gesture. Painting crowds, however, was not without risk, for the variety of pedestrian intrusions of dogs and sundry persons into the Levi painting drew the attention of the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
.
In addition, the number of figures apt for a painting became a fevered controversy for artists; for example, in the next century, Andrea Sacchi
Andrea Sacchi
Andrea Sacchi was an Italian painter of High Baroque Classicism, active in Rome. A generation of artists who shared his style of art include the painters Nicolas Poussin and Giovanni Battista Passeri, the sculptors Alessandro Algardi and François Duquesnoy, and the contemporary biographer Giovanni...
argued that only a few figures (less than a dozen) could permit an artist to honestly depict an individualized and unique expression, while Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona, by the name of Pietro Berrettini, born Pietro Berrettini da Cortona, was the leading Italian Baroque painter of his time and also one of the key architects in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture. He was also an important decorator...
thought armies of figures could consolidate a general image. Joshua Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, the premier English painter of his day , said:
The subjects of the Venetian painters are mostly such as give them an opportunity of introducing a great number of figures, such as feasts, marriages, and processions, public martyrdoms, or miracles. I can easily conceive that (Paolo) Veronese, if ... asked, would say that no subject was proper for an historical picture but such as admitted at least forty figures; for in a less number, he would assert, there could be no opportunity of the painter's showing his art in composition, his dexterity of managing and disposing the masses of light, and groups of figures, and of introducing a variety of Eastern dresses and characters in their rich stuffs.
The Meal
The figures in the painting are most likely enjoying dessertDessert
In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...
, as the food on the table is sugar, fruits and (according to at least one art curator at the Louvre) quince jam
Quince cheese
Quince cheese is a sweet, thick, quince jelly or quince candy.The recipe is probably of ancient origin; the Roman cookbook of Apicius, a collection of Roman cookery recipes compiled in the late 4th or early 5th century AD, gives recipes for stewing quince with honey.Historically marmalade was made...
. Ironically it also appears as though the main course is being prepared (butchered animals). This further credits the theory that the animals are lambs, and their purpose is symbolic, not practical.
External links
- Article on Louvre website
- High resolution image on Commons