(upbeat piano music) Dr. Zucker: Depicting the
world before us is hard enough, but how does an artist depict a dream. Dr. Harris: Not just a dream, but a figure having a dream. We're looking at Vernoses,
The Dream of Saint Helena. Dr. Zucker: This is a stunning image and although we can't credit
Veronese with the composition, which by the way, I love, because it comes apparently from
a print that was based in turn on a drawing by Raphael. We see this really
stark, spare composition. Dr. Harris: It has a real sense
of geometry and order to it in a way that makes sense that
it would come from Raphael and from the high renaissance. There's a open window that forms a square, through that is the dream space. the space of what Saint
Helena is dreaming of. Dr. Zucker: What we see, is the
softly handled gold beige atmosphere. In it are two rather cute angels, holding up what seems
like a massive weighty and very solid cross. Dr. Harris: Saint Helena had a dream that helped her to locate the cross, which had been buried for centuries, the true cross that
Christ was crucified on. Dr. Zucker: Think about this
as a really important relic and think about the mysticism
that is imbued in that object. Dr. Harris: And the power of that object. Dr. Zucker: According to legend, Saint Helena actually made a trip, part diplomatic and part spiritual. Dr. Harris: On behalf
of her son Constantine. Dr. Zucker: Constantine is at that moment where he makes Christianity
no longer a crime. His mother is in fact a Christine. Dr. Harris: Constantine himself
converts to Christianity later in his life. Dr. Zucker: Right. On his
death bed, according to legend. Here we have the critical
moment in the Christian story, but it's painted with a kind of elegance and a courtliness that reminds us that Veronese is one of the
great Venetian painters. Dr. Harris: Color is what
Venetian painters were known for. This painting has an amazing
harmony of cool greens and warm golds and oranges. It's painted in a way
that's really seductive. Even from far away, one can
see really loose brushworks that bring out the highlights of
the garments that's she's wearing, also the deep folds. Dr. Zucker: I don't
think I've seen brushwork that is so self evident, until
perhaps the late work of Lascaux. Dr. Harris: The brush work almost
seems like an end in itself. If you look at the white highlights between her sleeve and
the cape that she wears, it swirls and makes
these lovely arabesque. Dr. Zucker: The harmony
of the colors together, those warm golds that
you were talking about, those oranges, those rich
pinks against the cool stone and then against that neutral sky, creates this abstraction in
this very narrow palette. It's very narrow total
range that highlights the subtle differences between the colors and really amplifies them in some ways. Dr. Harris: You can see both the
way that he's using a whitish paint, sometimes a little bit with yellows in it, or sometimes with a little
bit of reds and oranges, also then these deep almost
brick red colors in her skirt where in between her
knees there's a shadow. It's that loose open brushwork and his interest in color and sensuality that will be so important for later
artist like Rubens and Velazquez. Dr. Zucker: Look how Veronese
contrast the sensuality, as you said, of that brushwork on her body, with much more linear frozen
handling of the architecture. I'm really struck by, for instance, the physicality of the cross in her dream. It contrast with the playful and
organic qualities of the angels. There's the secondary contrast
of the dream out the window, verses the physical space we inhabit. This is a painting that really is
about setting up kinds of contrast. Dr. Harris: The loose
handling of the paint, the concreteness of the
architecture, the dream and reality, this is a painting that will be
really important for later artist who are interested in exploring
the formal values of art; paint, the handling of paint,
the handling of light and color and harmonies of color. (upbeat piano music)