L’unione felice (c.1575)

Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588)

Allegorie dell’amore: L’unione felice (Four Allegories of Love: Happy Union)
c.1575
Oil on canvas, 187.4 x 186.7 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 (British MuseumLondon).

It is possible that the series of paintings was made to decorate the parallel suites of rooms of a husband and wife, 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 Unfaithfulness seem particularly directed at a female viewer.

A couple are united at the hands of a nude woman assisted by a boy – possibly Venus and Cupid, although they lack traits that would identify them securely. The union between the couple is marked by a laurel wreath signifying their virtue and an olive branch symbolising peace. The gold chain attached to the woman by the boy probably refers to marriage, while the dog is a symbol of fidelity. The man wears a thin gold chain wrapped several times around his wrist. The woman sitting on the stone globe and cornucopia may instead represent Fortune, who rewards fidelity with peace (the olive branch) and plenty (the cornucopia). The meaning of the Four Allegories of Love, although now obscure, was no doubt linked to their commission and original location.

The composition of each painting forms a strong diagonal, which on a ceiling would help relate the paintings to one another. The use of diagonals is particularly noticeable in Happy Union. A sheet of preliminary figure studies in pen and ink by Veronese for this series of paintings exists in the Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York. The wedded couple in Happy Union were originally conceived as advancing from the left – the more usual direction of action in a picture – but were then reversed in the painting, presumably to balance the diagonal movement in the other pictures. (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’infedeltà
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)