The Wedding at Cana

I am preaching at my best friends wedding this weekend.
I will not be able to show this picture to everyone at the ceremony, but I would love to.

The following is taken from a weekly web blog about Italian life.

www.ciaophiladelphia.com



When Jesus of Nazareth transformed water into wine at a wedding feast in the city of Cana, it can only be assumed that the wedding was a humble affair. The son of a carpenter and a known associate to some of the poorest people in the land, Jesus of Nazareth wasn’t likely to have been a guest at a formal banquet. And yet that is exactly as the Venetian painter Paolo Veronese depicted the wedding feast at Cana in his masterpiece of the same name.

Along with the artists Tiziano and Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese was one of the founders of the Venetian School, a movement in art that occurred as part of the Italian Renaissance. The movement is best known for the sumptuous colors used in many of the paintings. It is the coloring of The Wedding Feast At Cana that most people notice first. Vibrant, bold colors contrast against each other below, while pure white marble thrusts upward into a brilliant azure sky above.

The Wedding Feast At Cana is not considered to be one of the greatest paintings of all time simply because its colors are so beautiful. The talent exhibited by Paolo Veronese in creating the painting isn’t the reason either, though the painting is expertly executed. No, The Wedding Feast At Cana, like so many other paintings, is so well regarded because of its meaning.

In the painting, we see Jesus of Nazareth not as a guest at a wedding feast, but as the host, sitting at the center of the table. Surrounding him are various figures that would be found at a wedding, including guests, entertainers and servers. Above Him, a lamb is butchered, symbolic of the sacrifice Jesus would make in just a few years. But above the butchered lamb is a clear blue sky where three birds fly. Symbolic of Heaven and the Holy Trinity, Veronese shows that eternal life comes above any sacrifice, even the sacrifice of Jesus.

This subtle symbolism gives the painting meaning, a meaning that becomes even clearer when you consider the setting of the painting. From the Renaissance architecture to the costumes and even the musical instruments, this painting is set in the time of Veronese, not the time of Christ.

Why would Veronese depict a traditional story about Jesus of Nazareth in such a contemporary setting? Possibly, he wanted viewers to connect with the life of Christ in a personal way. He wanted them to not view Jesus of Nazareth as a historic figure from a long time ago but as the living God, relevant in the beginning, now and forever.

Paolo Veronese would go on to paint many other beautiful works, some even more beautiful than The Wedding Feast At Cana. However it is The Wedding Feast At Cana that is regarded as his masterpiece, The symbolism and daring retelling of an ancient story in a contemporary setting combine with Veronese’s skill and color choice to make The Wedding Feast At Cana not just his masterpiece, but one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.