CAGLIARI, Paolo, called Veronese, a distinguished painter, born at Verona in 1532. His father Gabriele Cagliari, who was a sculptor, perceiving his son's extraordinary predilection for painting, placed him with his uncle Badile, then one of the most eminent artists at Verona. Here he rapidly distinguished himself; and while still a mere youth, was employed by Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga to paint an altarpiece for the cathedral of Mantua. Proceeding afterwards to Venice, he was engaged to paint the ceiling of the church of St Sebastian in that city, and produced his celebrated work, the story of Esther, which at once established his fame. In conjunction with Tintoret, F. Bassano, and Battista Franco, he was employed to execute some works for the senate, and bore away the palm of victory,—an honour that was enhanced by the circumstance that Titian and Sansovino were the judges. He visited Rome in the suit of Grimaldi the Venetian ambassador; and while there he made the works of Michael Angelo and Raphael the especial objects of his study. Yet it must be observed that Paul Veronese was guided solely by the impulses of his own genius and vivid imagination, which delighted in gorgeous effect and
magnificence of costume, even where such accessories were out of place,—a peculiarity that is manifest in his great picture of the Marriage at Cana, in which the guests are represented in the rich attire of the luxurious Venetian nobility of his time. He was esteemed the greatest of the Lombard school, and was not inappropriately styled Il pittore felice. At Venice the specimens of this great master are very numerous. His principal works are the following: The Marriage at Cana (in which he has introduced at least 150 heads), now in the Louvre; The Feast of Simon, with Mary Magdalene washing our Saviour's feet,—painted for the church of St Sebastian; Christ at Table with his Disciples,—painted for the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo; The Feast of Simon, differently painted from that above mentioned,—presented by the republic, in 1665, to Louis XIV.
This great painter died at Venice in 1588; and a statue of brass was erected to his memory in the church of St Sebastian. (See Lanzi, Storia Pittorini.)