Juno

Juno (c. 1558) is part of a series depicting classical deities that Veronese painted for the decoration of a Venetian palace, likely as ceiling or overdoor panels. The queen of the Olympian gods is presented with regal authority, surrounded by her traditional attributes including the peacock. Veronese's mythological paintings demonstrate his fluency with classical subject matter, which he treated with the same sumptuous color and theatrical staging as his religious commissions. Now at Christ Church, Oxford, this work exemplifies the Venetian tradition of decorating patrician residences with mythological cycles that displayed the patron's classical learning while providing opportunities for the artist's most inventive coloristic effects.

The figure of Juno is rendered with Veronese's characteristic opulence of drapery and luminous flesh tones. The silvery color palette and confident brushwork create a sense of divine majesty appropriate to the queen of the gods.