L’infedeltà (c.1575)

Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588)

Allegorie dell’amore: L’infedeltà (Four Allegories of Love: Unfaithfulness)
c.1575
Oil on canvas, 189.9 x 189.9 cm
National GalleryLondon

This is one of a series of four paintings by Veronese that concern the trials and rewards of love, although their precise meanings remain unclear. The titles are not original and were given to the paintings in 1727. The compositions are designed to be seen from below, so we know the pictures were intended for a ceiling or a series of ceilings.

The paintings are recorded in 1648 in the collection of the Holy Roman Emperor in Prague. We do not know who commissioned them, but it is most likely that the Four Allegories of Love were made for an Italian patron and were still in Italy in the 1620s, when Van Dyck recorded two of the compositions in his Italian sketchbook.

It is possible that the series of paintings was made for the parallel suites of rooms of a husband and wife in a Venetian palace, two of the paintings for the reception room and bedchamber of the man and two for the equivalent rooms of his spouse. This painting and Happy Union seem particularly intended for a female viewer.

In this painting, titled Unfaithfulness, a naked woman with her back to the viewer sits between two clothed men, exchanging a letter with one of them. It is not clear whether she is giving the letter to him or he is passing it to her. It is inscribed with red letters which appear to spell either ‘che / uno possede‘, meaning ‘which one person possesses’, or Ch.. / mi. p(ossede), meaning ’which/who possesses me’ – the dots indicating illegible letters. The inscription may mean ‘she who has one man (should be satisfied)’ or possibly ‘she who has one lover (will always want another)’.

A child, similar to that in Happy Union, holds the woman by the leg, while Cupid plays music on a clavichord. The child’s pose echoes that of the woman. Cupid stands beside the courtly young man with whom the woman is exchanging the note. The woman is physically held by the child and the man on the right, although her attention is drawn to the music-making Cupid, and her other hand is joined with that of her lover on the left, around the letter that passes between them. The sinuous shape of her arms is echoed in the twisting tree trunks.

This painting seems intended for a female audience and to perhaps pair with Happy Union, although none of the men are the same. Even if this picture represents indecision in courtship rather than marital deceit, there is nothing within the picture to express disapproval.

The green drapery over the woman’s thigh and buttocks may have been added for the sake of decency, weakening the composition. The blue pigment smalt used for the sky in all four paintings has turned grey. The russet-coloured jacket and boots of the bearded lover have lost much of the original modelling on account of the degraded pigments, and the colour of Cupid’s wings has changed. (NG)

The other three Allegories of Love:

Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588)
Il disinganno
c.1575
National GalleryLondon

 

 

Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588)
Il rispetto
c.1575
National GalleryLondon

 

 

Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588)
L’unione felice
c.1575
National GalleryLondon

 

 

These four paintings by Veronese are allegories of love. They are titled UnfaithfulnessScornRespect and Happy Union, although their precise meanings remain unclear and have been much debated. The titles were given to the paintings in 1727, and continue to be used in the absence of better suggestions.

They were intended for a ceiling or a series of ceilings. We can tell this because the architectural elements within them are tilted. The lower parts of the compositions are not included in the paintings, and in several cases the feet of the figures are not visible. These features would have worked when the paintings were displayed on a ceiling but are disconcerting when they are hung on a wall. The composition of each painting forms a strong diagonal, which on a ceiling would help relate the paintings to one another.

We do not know who commissioned them, but it is most likely that the patron was Italian and they were made for a Venetian location. They seem to have still been in Italy in the 1620s, when Van Dyck recorded two of the compositions (Unfaithfulness and Respect) in his Italian sketchbook (British MuseumLondon). In 1648 they were in Prague Castle, although it seems most likely that the patron was Venetian.

The paintings may have been made to decorate a husband and wife’s apartments as the subjects are connected with the trials and rewards of love. The scenes are not necessarily meant to go in any particular order and there is no obvious narrative development. The man in Happy Union does not appear in any of the other scenes.

It seems likely that the paintings were intended for the ceilings of a suite of four rooms rather than for a single ceiling. In each painting the light falls from the same direction, which supports this idea. Also, in Venice no private residence had a ceiling large enough for all four paintings and no ceiling with four square compartments is recorded. Since many European palaces had parallel suites of rooms for husband and wife, it is possible that two of the paintings were made for a reception room and bedchamber of a man and two for the equivalent rooms of his spouse. The series does seem to divide well into two pairs: Unfaithfulness with Happy Union; and Scorn with Respect.

It is likely that the rapidly brushed-in highlights on the figures were made in response to a final judgment of how the pictures looked when viewed from a distance and from below. That final judgment must have been Veronese’s own. The costumes and hairstyles relate to those in Veronese’s other paintings of the mid-1570s. (NG)