Veronese's (Virtual) Journey Home
Paolo Veronese - The Consecration of Saint Nicholas - 1562
From 7 March to 3 April 2022, the National Gallery in London is presenting a virtual exhibition that allows visitors to view an altarpiece by Paolo Veronese in its original location.
Image: Paolo Veronese, "The Consecration of Saint Nicholas", 1562. Oil on canvas, 286.5 x 175.3 cm
In early 1562, the still young painter Paolo Veronese, who had recently studied Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, received one of his most ambitious commissions: a cycle of three altarpieces for the church of San Benedetto al Po, near Mantua. They were Madonna and Child in Glory with Saint Jerome (now lost), Madonna and Child in Glory with Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Paul (Chrysler Museum of Art) and The Consecration of Saint Nicholas (National Gallery, London). In the words of historian Beverly Louise Brown, “rather than depicting a static and hierarchic arrangement of passive saints gathered in the presence of the Madonna and child, in these altarpieces Veronese describes for the spectator the occurrence of a miraculous event” (Veronese And The Church Triumphant: The Altarpieces For San Benedetto Po, 1997)
The altarpiece of The Consecration of Saint Nicholas was removed from its original location during the Napoleonic Wars, and subsequently acquired by the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom, through which it became part of the National Gallery in London.
Two centuries after its removal, the spectacular altarpiece returns to its original location... virtually. Through the use of virtual reality technology, the exhibition "Virtual Veronese" will allow to contemplate a virtual reconstruction of the chapel of the church of San Benedetto al Po with the stellar presence of Veronese's altarpiece. The exhibition offers a choice of two "virtual guides". On the one hand, the historical figure of Abbot Asola, who commissioned the altarpiece from Veronese, or Dr Rebecca Gill, curator at the National Gallery, who stated that "through this project we can bring architecture into the Gallery and allow our visitors to explore for themselves what it might have been like to stand in front of this painting by Veronese some 500 years ago".

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