The Anointment of David

Samuel had been sent to see Jesse and his sons in Bethlehem in order to anoint the successor to Saul, who had fallen from God’s favour, as king of Israel. In order to conceal his true intentions, he was to take a young cow with him – the impressive head can be seen on the right – and to invite Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice. Only the youngest son, David, did not initially come because he was keeping the sheep. Samuel ordered Jesse to fetch the shepherd boy, who can be seen in the background hurrying in from the left. “[…] And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this [is] he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. […]” (1 Sam. 16:12–13). Veronese painted this early work during his first years in Venice. He came to that city in 1553, working primarily for the upper classes. To realise his Mannerist principles, he used the landscape format in the following narrative strategy: in front of a dark background and without any attempt to create greater depth, Veronese has grouped the actors tightly, overlapping them and creating surprising relationships. The central action becomes clear only after study because the viewer is initially distracted by the drama of the secondary figures, dressed in the finest Venetian fashions. Two figures in the foreground with their backs turned (a device called repoussoir) lead our gaze to the kneeling David – on the left the elderly man with a staff and on the right the woman with a baby – but Veronese’s skilful use of colour works against our making a rapid reading of his composition.
Architectural features embedded in the landscape sections suggest the power of renewal in the depicted action: on the left the pathway is flanked by ruins; on the right there is a magnificent new structure. The latter, regardless of its intended use, is clearly based on contemporary works by Palladio, whose architectural language Veronese began using in his paintings in the 1550s. By the end of the decade he was himself involved in one of Palladio’s projects, decorating the Villa Barbaro (1561 ff.).
© Cäcilia Bischoff, Masterpieces of the Picture Gallery, Vienna 2010