Veronese Profane at the Musée du Luxembourg

Museum visitors may be more familiar with the “sacred” side of Veronese, from majestic religious paintings such as the Louvre’s Wedding Feast at Cana (1562-1563). In focusing on the artist’s “profane” or secular works, however, this exhibition is an opportunity to get acquainted with his talents on a more human scale.

Veronese (1528-1588) was born in Verona but built his career in Venice, where he was showered with demands from the church, the state, and innumerable wealthy clients with palaces to decorate or portraits to commission. Veronese’s style draws on the colorist legacy of Titian and Giorgione, but his play with perspectival games and sinuously curving bodies is all Italian Mannerism. The small-scale works on display here delight with Veronese’s sense of play and whimsy. Even in seemingly solemn compositions like his Rape of Europa (1575-80) the bull bearing the princess away licks her foot affectionately. In a tiny scene of Mars and Venus with Cupid (c. 1575) the Olympian lovers are interrupted mid-embrace by a cupid leading a curious horse down a flight of palatial stairs.

The real highlight of the exhibition is Veronese’s portraiture. His lushly painted portraits of women, such as the well-known Le Belle Nani (1560-65) make up in magnificence of dress what they lack in individuality. (Were all the wealthy ladies of Venice blond, fine-featured, and vacuous?) Veronese’s portraits of men, by contrast, resonate with personality. The great portrait of Iseppo Porto and his son Adriano (1551-52) gives us an unexpected glimpse of paternal tenderness. Porto’s young son, dressed as a miniature adult complete with child-sized sword, peeks out from under his father’s arm. The sense of intimacy is startling in this kind of full-length portraiture, usually employed to magnify the sitter’s professional or hereditary dignity.

It seems only appropriate to see “Veronese Profane” at the Luxembourg Palace, built for another eminent 16th-century Italian, Marie de Medici. But unfortunately, space is tight in its galleries. The installation hampers rather than enhances the viewing experience, with lighting that creates unwelcome glare. The wall text is negligible, so the paintings end up having to speak for themselves. Thankfully, they are more than up for the job.

Reserve tickets online.

Veronese Profane until January 30
Musée du Luxembourg
19, rue de Vaugirard, 6ème
Mon, Fri, Sat, and Sun, from 11am to 10:30pm
Tues, Wed, and Thurs, from 11am to 7pm
This exhibition will be open on Dec 25 and Jan 1

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