St Michael Vanquishing the Devil

1530 · Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice

religious

Bonifacio Veronese produced animated paintings for private clients in which biblical themes were merely a pretext for depicting the banquets or musical entertainments of the Venetian nobility. He also produced religious works for churches. Even the depiction of this vigorous struggle between St Michael and the devil remains poised and harmoniously composed, although this entails some loss of expressive force.

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About the Artist

Bonifacio Veronese

1487 – 1557

Italian painter, originally Bonifazio de' Pitati. He was born in Verona but trained under Palma Vecchio and ran a large workshop in Venice. His style was greatly influenced by Giorgione and Titian, and to some extent his name is used to cover works which the owner dare not quite attribute to either of them, but there is a fine picture in Birmingham which is closer to Bassano. Other examples are in Adelaide, Boston, Dresden, Florence (Pitti, Uffizi), London (National Gallery), Milan (Brera and Ambrosiana), San Francisco, Venice and Vienna. There are also many cassoni and furniture decorations attributed to him. He had a lasting influence on Tintoretto.

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