BONIFACIO VERONESE
(b. 1487, Verona, d. 1557, Venezia)

St Michael Vanquishing the Devil

c. 1530
Oil on canvas
Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice

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.

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary was destroyed by fire in 1867. The restored chapel was reopened only in 1959. It is now decorated with many 16th-17th-century paintings originated from other Venetian churches and collections. Bonifacio's painting belongs to this decoration.




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