The Wedding at Cana

Veronese had painted this wedding once before. In 1562 and 1563 he made a version almost ten metres wide for the dining hall of the Benedictine monks of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, the picture that now hangs in the Louvre. This one, from around 1571, is less than half that width and was made for a private house, the palace of the Cuccina, a Venetian merchant family. Jesus, Mary, the bridal couple, guests, musicians and servants gather around a table set before grand palace architecture. One figure draws the eye, a wine steward in a bright orange robe who holds a glass out at arm's length, judging the wine that a moment ago was water, while Christ, right beside him, watches the test. In 1652 the painter Pietro da Cortona wrote that this steward alone deserved to be called a great and extraordinary miracle of art.