Happy Union

Nobody recorded who ordered this canvas and its three companions, which hang together in Room 11. The National Gallery suggests the four may have been made for a married couple's matching suites of rooms, two pictures for his reception room and bedchamber, two for hers. This one reads like a wedding. A nude woman seated on a stone globe holds a laurel wreath, a sign of virtue, over the richly dressed pair, and an olive branch for peace rises between them. A small boy fastens a gold chain to the bride, probably standing for marriage, and the dog beside them is the old emblem of fidelity. The seated woman may be Fortune rather than Venus, rewarding faithfulness with peace and plenty. Veronese first planned the husband and wife walking in from the left, then reversed them, probably to balance the diagonals of the other three pictures.