“Christ among the Doctors in the Temple”, Paolo Veronese c.1560, Prado, Madrid.
The 12 year old Jesus is shown teaching in Temple as told in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 2:41-52). Veronese clothes the doctors in beautiful and brightly coloured garments and has them sit at the feet of Jesus. There is keen interest in what the young boy is saying. Some are searching large tomes, perhaps to check if his statements can be backed up by the scriptures. The classical architectural setting suggests not only the magnificence of the Temple but also the world of pagan antiquity. Just visible in the stone work above the door are two recycling figures and even they seem to be listening to the words of Jesus. God’s wisdom, evident in the words of a young boy, is set against the wisdom of both pagan and Jewish antiquity. Meanwhile, Mary and Joseph stand in the background looking from the doorway but Veronese paints them in muted colours so that we stay focused on the exchange between Jesus and the doctors. This is one my favourite paintings in the Prado. It is very large: 2.36m high and 4.3m wide and to o my eye, at least, there is a trompe l’oeil effect. If you stand to the left and view it sideways then the curved colonnade on the right seems less flat. Daylight falling from the left picks out the face of a tall man with a beard who is standing. From the left this man seems to be facing you. Actually, he gives an important clue as to the possible circumstances of this commission. It is dated as 1560 because the architectural setting is derived from engravings by Vitruvius, which were published in 1556. Intriguingly, there is an earlier date on the edge of the book that is held open by the arm of the doctor near the pillar. It is right in front of you as you view the painting. It bears the Roman numerals MCXLVIII, or 1548. Veronese would only have been 20 in 1548 and clearly this is a mature work. Now the man in black wears the garb of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and carries a pilgrim’s staff. If so, then perhaps this painting commemorates a pilgrimage he made to the Holy Land in 1548. Perhaps, while he was there, he found faith and grew in wisdom.
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