Paolo Veronese and the Nobility of Painting

A reappraisal of Veronese's art as politically charged visual independence.

Paolo Veronese's sumptuous paintings, with their vibrant colors and theatrical elegance, have often been admired for their surface beauty but also questioned for perceived excess and detachment. In this incisive study, Tom Nichols reconsiders Veronese's pictorial language not as a superficial display but as a deliberate visual strategy that resisted the hierarchies and exclusions of sixteenth-century Venetian society. Through detailed analysis of major works, Nichols highlights the painter's striking inclusion of marginal figures--women, servants, people of color, and the poor--within scenes of civic and sacred grandeur. Far from a passive decorator, Veronese emerges as a subtle commentator on power, dignity, and the possibilities of art.

About the author

Tom Nichols is Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. His previous books include Titian and the End of the Venetian Renaissance (2013), Tintoretto (2015) and Giorgione’s Ambiguity (2020), all published by Reaktion.

Product details

• Authors: Nichols Tom
• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 01.05.2026
• EAN: 9781836391920
• ISBN: 978-1-83639-192-0
• No. of pages: 272
• Illustrations: 68 illustrations, 60 in colour
• Series: Renaissance Lives
• Subjects: Europe, History of Art, Painting & paintings, Renaissance art, Renaissance style, ART / Movements / Renaissance