Italian Master Artist Pailo Veronese Outwitted the Inquisition Over "Last Supper"

THE TELEGRAPH
By Martin Gayford

Veronese's Feast in the House of Levi (detail) Photo: De Agostini/Getty Images

ITALY---On 18 July, 1573 Paolo Veronese was summoned before the Holy Office – the Inquisition – to answer questions about one of his paintings. In a sense, this was the first artist interview ever recorded. But few painters or sculptors have faced such an alarming interrogation. The tribunal ordered Veronese to change the picture at his own expense or face worse penalties. But in the end, he just altered the title from the Last Supper into the Feast at the House of Levi.

'Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice’ opens at the National Gallery, London WC2 (020 7747 2885), on March 19 [link]