A wedding that fills a wall

Stand back as far as the room allows and find the centre of the banquet. Jesus sits among the guests. Around him, people talk, serve, eat and make music. Your eyes can follow any one of them. The painting is almost ten metres wide and offers many places to pause. Paolo Veronese, a Renaissance painter working in Venice, made it in 1562 and 1563 for the dining hall of the monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore. People eating there saw another meal painted on a wall. The size and architecture of the picture were designed to take part in that space. The story comes from an episode in the Christian Gospels. At a wedding in Cana, Jesus turns water into wine when the drink runs out. Look at the vessels and the people attending the table. The celebration carries on around them. Veronese sets a religious story within a gathering full of recognisable gestures. Choose two people close together. Notice whether they look at each other, whether one carries something, or whether their bodies face different ways. Then find a figure further away. The painting combines those small actions with an architecture that orders the whole scene. Columns and balconies help you follow it without everything becoming mixed together. The Mona Lisa remains opposite. The portrait concentrates attention on one person while this feast spreads it among many. You can spend a long time here without looking twice at the same gesture. Choose one person at the table and follow the direction of a hand, a face or a glance.