53 - Attributed to Paolo VERONESE (Verona, 1528–Venice, 1588). The Young Falconer. Larch panel. Height: 216 cm. Width: 115 cm. Previous restorations. Our large, previously unpublished panel served as a door in a villa in the Venetian countryside, either as a pendant or as part of a pair with the one at the Bemberg Foundation in Toulouse (ill. 1), which also depicts a falconer—an older man—with his dog [1]. The two figures are depicted in the act of setting off, descending a step. They emerge from the threshold of a half-open door, creating a surprise effect accentuated by the perspective and their life-size proportions. The most famous examples of trompe-l’oeil false doors were created by Veronese at the Villa Barbaro in Maser (1561), built by the architect Andrea Palladio. The fresco decoration developed by the artist and the owners—the Barbaro brothers, notably Daniele—unfolds a rich iconographic program throughout the rooms. In the Hall of Olympus, beneath a ceiling depicting the celestial vault, the walls are punctuated by architectural elements and niches containing faux statues, as well as imitation windows juxtaposed with real openings, where the painted landscapes create the illusion of being outdoors. A whole Mannerist interplay of spatial illusions unfolds, adding figures, statues, animals, or objects in front of or behind a door, a column, or a balustrade. Right at the entrance, in the cruciform vestibule, a young girl pokes her head through a door (ill. 2), and a young page bursts in as if there were another room behind it. Other figures punctuate the interior walls; pairs of musicians flank the doors (whether real or trompe-l’œil), and the niches become veritable stages within which saints or allegorical figures come to life. Finally, a young gentleman returning from a hunt (perhaps a self-portrait or that of the owner, ill. 3) is depicted in front of a doorframe, with his two dogs, holding a halberd. This figure, located at the end of the enfilade, is visible from the Hall of Olympus. Our painting employs the same illusionistic principle with the similar aim of enlivening a large hall, likely in another villa [2], and at a slightly later date, around 1570. In the early 16th century, the expansion of maritime trade prompted the new Venetian aristocracy to take an interest in the vast agricultural estates in the hinterland (Terraferma). To manage these estates, a hybrid palatial dwelling—combining a residential palace with a working farm—was invented by Palladio and spread from Vicenza to the banks of the Brenta River. This return to the land—primarily through hunting, the new lifestyle of the Venetian elite—was part of a humanist philosophy that reestablished agriculture and hunting as fundamental “Roman” values, those of the Italian knighthood. These new patricians took up falconry, which would remain the most noble form of hunting until the 17th century. On both doors, Veronese depicts a falconer holding a falcon [3], wearing a red leather hood, its legs bound by a leather lanyard held in his gloved hand. The pointing dog is indispensable to this practice: it flushes out the game, and then the falconer removes the hood and releases his bird at the right moment. Animals—and especially dogs—are ubiquitous in Veronese’s work. In his portraits, large banquet scenes, and religious compositions (The Pilgrims of Emmaus, The Wedding at Cana, Louvre Museum), they symbolize loyalty and add a touch of realism. Here, at his master’s feet, he gnaws on a bone, his eyes alert. Our artist depicts real dogs, each breed rendered with precision, a far cry from the stylized depictions of ceremonial dogs found in the works of other painters. The hunting dog was likely the patron’s own. The teenager wears a beret adorned with a plume. His fitted doublet is decorated with slits, and he wears a white handkerchief at his waist, the color of which matches that of the fabric wrapped around his neck. The yellow and green tones of the Bemberg painting are counterbalanced here by the red that dominates the lower parts of his tight-fitting red hose and sleeves, as well as the half-open door behind the young man. In both cases, the vivid color is enhanced by the white fabrics that illuminate the entire composition, a demonstration of Veronese’s qualities as a colorist, which have always been celebrated. His work would serve as a model in the 17th century and up through the Tiepolo school. He excels at rendering movement and creating dialogues between real and fictional spaces, designed to astonish the viewer and contribute to the splendor of his patrons [4]. The discovery of this exceptional panel clearly attests to this characteristic approach of the late painter