The Feast in the House of Levi

This Feast in the House of Levi by Veronese at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, relates to the artist's most famous and controversial painting — the vast canvas originally titled "The Last Supper" (1573, now in the Accademia, Venice) which Veronese was forced by the Inquisition to rename after he was interrogated about the inappropriate secular figures (dwarfs, Germans, dogs) he had included in the sacred scene. This version or study demonstrates the feast composition format at which Veronese excelled, transforming biblical banquets into magnificent spectacles of Venetian life.

The feast composition deploys Veronese's signature architectural framework — grand classical arches and columns — to create a spacious stage for the banquet scene. The brilliant chromatic range and the varied poses and interactions of the numerous figures demonstrate his supreme gift for organizing complex multi-figure compositions into harmonious, legible wholes.