# "Wedding at Cana" by Veronese **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** arts-crafts\ **Created:** [November 25, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776 "2024-11-25T22:55:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/1 "2024-11-25T22:55:30Z")
(Note: Continuing the discussion from [Have you ever been underwhelmed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-underwhelmed/1010764/22) and [What's an underappreciated work of classic art?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-underappreciated-work-of-classic-art/972470/15)) Those discussions mentioned an old painting, [The Wedding at Cana by Veronese (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wedding_at_Cana_(Veronese)). Or see this big, zoomable version online: [Wedding at Cana - Veronese - OpenSeaDragon High Resolution Viewer](https://openseadragon.github.io/openseadragonizer/?img=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fc%2Fcb%2FLes_Noces_de_Cana_-_Paolo_Veronese_-_Mus%25C3%25A9e_du_Louvre_Peintures_INV_142_%253B_MR_384.jpg&encoded=true) (use mousewheel to zoom, click and drag to move) In those discussions, this painting was suggested as a much more interesting piece than the Mona Lisa displayed near it and often overshadowing it. I’d never heard of it before (as someone not at all artsy or classical), but I love the attention to detail in it. As @Cervaise pointed out: > [@What's an underappreciated work of classic art?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-underappreciated-work-of-classic-art/972470/15): > > There are well over a hundred human figures in the painting (plus several animals), and every one of them is unique, engaged in a specific activity, interacting with the people around them in specific ways. Each shows an individual relationship to the celebratory event in which they’re participating. Just on a human level, it’s very entertaining. > > Then as you keep looking, you realize that couched in the overall balanced composition, you find all of the specific thematic details are also balanced. For every symbolic representative of the sacred and elevated, there’s someone or something portraying the mundane or the profane, the grounded real world. The wedding couple enjoys their marriage being blessed by Jesus himself, but then in the background you’ve got possibly-drunk partygoers climbing rudely on the architecture. You’ve got the Virgin Mary making a gesture suggestive of the cup that caught Jesus’s blood, but you’ve also got a dog straining at its leash in its desire to launch itself at a cat. What other interesting details are there? Are there any interesting cultural references that wouldn’t be obvious to someone not steeped in the antiquities and Christianity studies? For example, some things I noticed & questions that I have about them: - Who is that bearded old man in the pink shirt & blue toga, seated two left of (who I presume to be) Jesus? He’s wagging his finger angrily at something/someone, and a man in a turban behind him is making a “whoa there, hold on a sec” gesture. - At the far lower left, there is a blonde woman with a bright puffy face, wearing a dress that looks like a French dinner plate (white and blue floral patterns). She is one of only 3 people I saw, other than Jesus and a shrugging man in white at the far right, to look directly at the viewer and “break the 4th wall”, so to speak. Is there any significance to that? - In the far lower right, under the standing white vase, is that… a cat? Is it tugging at the vase? Why does it look so blurry and shadowy compared to the rest of the painting, almost like it’s a werewolf? - And what is the man in blue above that vase doing…? Is that… some sort of poop throne with a face and a chute that leads into the vase…? Feeding the cat? - In the center on the balcony above Jesus, it looks like they’re… butchering…? some raw cut of meat? Is it normal to be doing that during a banquet, instead of having it already cooked and served? There’s also a couple of porters bringing in some other dead animal from the right, maybe some sort of deer or dog or hyena thing. - At the upper right, on what looks like a very steep roof/column, there is a boy in a light blue shirt & tan shorts that’s hanging onto it with one arm and the side of his legs. Either he has incredible balance & strength or maybe that’s just a weird perspective? What other interesting things are there? It’s really quite a fascinating painting 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/2 "2024-11-25T23:38:54Z")
Just a Heads Up… That Seadragon link siezed up my shit for 25 minutes, forced me to do a hard re-boot/restart, knocked me off the internet, shut down my adblocker… God knows what else. Beware!! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/3 "2024-11-25T23:50:40Z")
Here’s the painting from Wikipedia. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Paolo_Veronese_008.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Paolo_Veronese_008.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/4 "2024-11-26T00:05:25Z")
In between Jesus and the finger-wagging man is Mary; you can tell it’s her because she has a halo around her head (though it’s not as bright or intense as Jesus’s is). She doesn’t look particularly happy. Also, I wonder which figures are supposed to be the bride and groom? It’s a wedding reception, after all! ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/5 "2024-11-26T00:17:21Z")
It’s the tower in the back. Badly done. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/6 "2024-11-26T00:19:31Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > At the upper right, on what looks like a very steep roof/column, there is a boy in a light blue shirt & tan shorts that’s hanging onto it with one arm and the side of his legs. Either he has incredible balance & strength or maybe that’s just a weird perspective? Weird perspective; I’m pretty sure that it’s meant to be a peaked roof that he’s on. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/7 "2024-11-26T00:25:09Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Also, I wonder which figures are supposed to be the bride and groom? It’s a wedding reception, after all! From the Wikipedia article, > In the wedding banquet proper, the holy guests and the mortal hosts have exchanged their social status, and so Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and some of his Apostles, are seated in the place of honour of the centre-span of the banquet table, whilst the bride and bridegroom sit, as guests, at the far end of the table’s right wing. So on the far left of the image. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/8 "2024-11-26T00:58:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Weird perspective Something to understand about how to look at the painting: we are seeing it differently here than as the artist conceived it. Remember, the painting is _huge._ In person, you’re below it, looking up at an angle, as it towers above you. This significantly changes how you perceive it. Our eyes “read” those people at top right very differently when we’re seeing the whole painting straight on, looking at a photographic reproduction on a computer screen, compared to the full size work hanging on a wall. Classical artists were very conscious of the perspective of the viewer. Consider the unusual proportions of Michelangelo’s David, for example; if you really focus on how he’s put together, he seems a little cartoonish. But then reorient your imagination so you’re standing at the statue’s base, dwarfed by its scale — or go see it in person — and you’ll get **[why](https://accademiagallery.org/michelangelos-statue-of-david-ultimate-guide/)** he’s designed that way. And going back further, in Greek temples, the columns are usually **[subtly distorted](https://www.architecturecourses.org/learn/parthenon-design-and-architectural-features)** to correct for how we misperceive their proportions as we look up at them. Very smart folks, those classical creators. Point is, what may seem like weird angles and spatial relationships as we look at the painting with our modern perpendicular gaze are revealed as intentional choices when we see the piece the way we’re supposed to. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/9 "2024-11-26T01:08:12Z")
I read _someplace_ that Michelangelo’s David was intended to sit along the roofline of a church, so above the viewer and that’s the reason his head is out of proportion. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/10 "2024-11-26T01:15:44Z")
Yes, that’s why I linked the article. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/11 "2024-11-26T01:17:29Z")
But in its original placement, you wouldn’t even be at the statue’s base, but looking up at it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/12 "2024-11-26T04:51:17Z")
Many of the faces in the painting look surprisingly modern. The guy at the far right in green and gold could be Joe Pesci’s more contemplative brother. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/13 "2024-11-26T06:31:09Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Many of the faces in the painting look surprisingly modern. There’s a guy on the left of the top line of folks, between two guys in green, who looks just like my brother. 😁 > [@Reply](#): > > In the far lower right, under the standing white vase, is that… a cat? It does look like a cat - it even has tabby marks on the head. But the nose looks weird and the paws are definitely weird. I can’t make out what it is grabbing. If you look above that area you will see a very tiny dog on the table. It looks like it could get hurt in this crowd. I hope someone is keeping an eye on it. > [@Reply](#): > > And what is the man in blue above that vase doing…? Is that… some sort of poop throne with a face and a chute that leads into the vase…? I think that’s just some sort of wooden stool. It has a cushion on it. Very interesting painting. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/14 "2024-11-26T09:19:25Z")
Bold of the violinist to come wearing a cross. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/15 "2024-11-26T12:38:02Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > In between Jesus and the finger-wagging man is Mary; you can tell it’s her because she has a halo around her head Also by the fact that she’s in blue, though it’s moderated by some gray. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/16 "2024-11-26T13:26:37Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > At the far lower left, there is a blonde woman with a bright puffy face, wearing a dress that looks like a French dinner plate (white and blue floral patterns). She is one of only 3 people I saw, other than Jesus and a shrugging man in white at the far right, to look directly at the viewer and “break the 4th wall”, so to speak. Is there any significance to that? That’s the bride. > [@Reply](#): > > In the center on the balcony above Jesus, it looks like they’re… butchering…? some raw cut of meat? Just carving cooked meat. Lamb, allegedly. Subtle. Why do you think it’s raw? There’s no blood. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/17 "2024-11-26T14:47:32Z")
If you are really interested in this painting, a whole book has been written about it [Plunder: Napoleon’s Theft of Veronese’s… book by Cynthia Saltzman](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/plunder-napoleons-theft-of-veroneses-feast_cynthia-saltzman/26630647/item/53779073/?mkwid=%7cdc&pcrid=77447028765180&pkw=&pmt=be&slid=&product=53779073&plc=&pgrid=1239149900900141&ptaid=pla-4581046492312218&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping+-+High+Vol+Frontlist+-+Under+%2410&utm_term=&utm_content=%7cdc%7cpcrid%7c77447028765180%7cpkw%7c%7cpmt%7cbe%7cproduct%7c53779073%7cslid%7c%7cpgrid%7c1239149900900141%7cptaid%7cpla-4581046492312218%7c&msclkid=80ba3097c0291df33da257d21f131f65#idiq=53779073&edition=33470863) I enjoyed reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/18 "2024-11-26T15:08:28Z")
😮 (buys immediately) ---
**Author:** ![Strenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Strenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strenger)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-at-cana-by-veronese/1010776/19 "2024-11-30T08:52:22Z")
Ditto. That is tantalizing Granted, I should not be collecting more books at this stage in my life. Rather the opposite. But that’s irresistable. Library/ILL for sure. TY! But I was just studying Aquinas’s _Catena aurea_ of that specific passage (the wedding feast at Cana) to examine some of the tradition explicating each verse. Not a few weeks ago. And now this painting shows up! Yeah, I used to have a faculty pass to the Louvre (secret staircase!) but never spent time around this painting over a few years.