This picturesque painting is one of the most curious of all Veronese's works. It was painted in return for the hospitality which he received from the Pisani family, and all the figures in it are portraits of members of the household. Another point worthy of note is the anachronism of the warriors clad in Roman armour standing before the kneeling women, who are dressed in the manner of the sixteenth century.] This picture of the _Wedding at Cana_ was painted by Veronese for the refectory of the convent of San Giorgio Maggiore, on the island that faces the _Riva dei Schiavoni_. It remained there until the time of Napoleon's Italian Campaign. Bonaparte, who loved the arts without understanding them, laid profane hands on the great majority of Italian masterpieces. This painting by Veronese was one of the number, and found a place in the Louvre. The treaty of 1815 obliged France to restore these treasures, but the Austrian commissioners, appointed to accomplish the restitution, became alarmed at the difficulties of transportation which the _Wedding at Cana_ presented. They accordingly consented to exchange this canvas for a painting by Le Brun, _The Feast at the House of the Pharisee_. Veronese's masterpiece remained in the Louvre, in which it is one of the most flawless gems. The contract drawn up between Veronese and the Prior of San Giorgio Maggiore for the execution of this picture has been preserved. The painter bound himself to deliver it within a year, since the contract was signed June 6, 1562 and the delivery of the canvas took place of September 8, 1563. He was to be furnished with canvas and colours, to be entitled to take his meals at the convent and receive a cask of wine as additional recompense. As to remuneration for his work, it was fixed by mutual agreement at 324 ducats, which, in the 16th century, corresponded to 972 francs in the coin of France. Taking into consideration the enhanced value of money since that epoch, these 972 francs would represent to-day 7,000 francs. Such is the price which the greatest artist of his time received for a masterpiece which to-day commands the admiration of the entire world. Never did Veronese display so much brilliance, dispense so much imagination as in the _Wedding at Cana_; never did he show a greater dexterity in execution; for, however considerable the dimensions of the canvas may be, it demanded nothing less than genius to distribute without clash or disproportion the hundred and thirty-two personages which compose it. A painter less thoroughly sure of himself would have made a sorry mess of this Feast; Veronese has produced a composition that is admirable for its balance, in abounding charming details, and unexpected and picturesque episodes, that do not in the least detract from the effect of the painting as a whole.