The Finding of Moses

In 1573 Veronese was called before the Venetian Inquisition to explain why his sacred pictures were so crowded with dwarfs, dogs and men in contemporary dress. He talked his way out and changed almost nothing. Painted around 1581, this discovery of the infant Moses among the reeds is more Venice than ancient Egypt. Pharaoh's daughter and her attendants wear the shimmering silks and pearls of noblewomen Veronese would have passed on the Grand Canal. He returned to this Old Testament scene at least eight times with his workshop, and a smaller version now in Lyon is thought to be the trial run for this one. The little dog at the lower edge is exactly the kind of everyday detail the Inquisition had questioned.