hing wanting in the splendid
pictures which Veronese painted, the Church at last began to have
doubts as to whether they were fit as religious subjects to adorn her
walls. The Holy Office considered the question, and Veronese was
ordered to appear before the council.

Was it, indeed, fit that court jesters, little negro boys, and even
cats and pet dogs should appear in pictures which were to decorate the
walls of a church? Veronese answered gravely that it was the effect of
the picture that mattered, and that the details need not be thought of.
So the complaint was dismissed.

These pictures of Paolo Veronese were really great pieces of
decoration, very wonderful in their way, but showing already that Art
was sinking lower instead of rising higher.

If the spirits of the old masters could have returned to gaze upon this
new work, what would their feelings have been? How the simple Giotto
would have shaken his head over this wealth of ornament which meant so
little, even while he marvelled at the clever work. How sorrowfully
would Fra Angelico have turned away from this perfection of worldly
vanity, and sighed to think that the art of painting was no longer a
golden chain to link men's souls to Heaven. Even the merry-hearted monk
Fra Filippo Lippi would scarce have approved of all this gorgeous
company.

Art had indeed shaken off the binding rules of old tradition, and
Veronese was free to follow his own magnificent fancy. But who can say
if that freedom was indeed a gain? And it is with a sigh that we close
the record of Italian Art and turn our eyes, wearied with all its
splendour and the glare of the noonday sun, back to the early dawn,
when the soul of the painter looked through his pictures, and taught us
the simple lesson that work done for the glory of God was greater than
that done for the praise of men.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Knights of Art, by Amy Steedman

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