Feast in the House of Levi (detail)
by VERONESE, Paolo, Oil on canvas
The memorable head of the master steward suggests close study of the pseudo-classical Vitellius bust (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Venice), which Cardinal Domenico Grimani sent to Venice from Rome in 1523. Like Tintoretto, Veronese had made a drawing of the bust (British Museum, London), which had been on display in the Doge’s Palace from 1525. There may have been a cast of the emperors bust among the plaster casts documented as being owned by Veronese’s heirs.