Introduction

Paolo Veronese's family name at his birth in Verona in 1528 was 'spezapreda' – literally translated as stonecutter. The Christ Preaching is a unique achievement in contemporary painting, whose command of architecture, of portraiture, of costumes and of Venetian, Titian-inspired colour, cannot be explained in terms of the training available in Verona. The sixteenth-century recognition of Veronese was, however, limited by contrast with the rich vein of praise for Pisanello a century earlier. The reception of the Marriage Feast gives us a measure of Veronese's critical reputation. Carpaccio and Bellini are reinterpreted for the sixteenth century with a brilliance which characterizes Veronese's paintings during the 1560s and 1570s. The brilliant colour, costumes and architecture of the Martyrdom of St George and of the Marriage Feast are found in Veronese's most spectacular mythologies. The chapter also gives an overview of the book.