Reflections, Reflections

A recent "Last Supper" advertisement was ordered to be taken down in Italy and France, since it was ruled it was a gratuitous offense to Christians. (see recent long post on this controversy). I just found out that about five centuries ago, Veronese also incurred the ire of the Inquisition because of his choice of mixing religious and profane elements in his gorgeous, enormous version of the Last Supper. His solution to the threats and charges from the Inquisition is quite entertaining, although I'm sure the Inquisition was not at all amused:

From the International Herald:

"The Last Supper" (now at the Accademia, Venice) Dimensions : Hauteur 555 * Largeur 1310 cm

[...] in the case of "The Last Supper" for the refectory of the SS Giovanni e Paolo monastery in Venice, Veronese's tumultuous mélange of classical and Christian, religious and profane, had apparently gone too far. In July 1573, he was arraigned before the Inquisition and cross-questioned as to the significance of the details of the picture's contents. In his replies, Veronese bravely defended the right of painters "like poets and madmen" to follow their own invention.

The inquisitors remained unsatisfied, and ordered him to remove from the canvas "the buffoons, drunkards, German soldiers, dwarfs and other such absurdities." He afterwards responded merely by changing the name of the painting to "Feast at the House of Levi." The inquisition was unusually weak in Venice, and kept that way by the Venetian state to minimize external, especially papal, interference. In another place, Veronese's impertinent response could have cost him his liberty, if not his life.

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