VERONESE, Paolo
(b. 1528, Verona, d. 1588, Venezia)

View into the Cruciform Sala a Crociera

1560-61
Frescoes and plaster decoration
Villa Barbaro, Maser

Painted Corinthian columns and "arcades", presumably carried out by Veronese's brother and assistant Benedetto Caliari, form a light architectural framework for the extraordinarily delightful trompe l'oeil landscapes with small figures and classical buildings. A continuous plaster cornice provides an upper edge and three-dimensional wall articulation, and was - like the door frames - presumably done to a design by the painter. In 1648, Veronese's biographer Carlo Ridolfi was the first to identify the musicians as muses. A pair of them flanked each of the illusory doors in the "transept" vestibules through which visitors appear to enter the room. The final elements of the decoration are the grisaille equestrian scenes below, which are in the style of cameos.