Verona City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 243,474), northern Italy. Located on the Adige River, it became a Roman colony in 89 bc and was the birthplace of the poet Catullus. It was captured by the Goths after the fall of the Roman Empire and was the site of Odoacer’s defeat by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric in 489. It was occupied by Charlemagne in 774. Verona came under the della Scala family (1260-1387), the era recalled in Wil¬ liam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It passed in 1405 to Venice, which held it almost continuously until 1797, when it was ceded to Austria. It became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. It is noted for its ancient Roman amphitheatre (1st century ad), now used for opera, and for Romanesque and Gothic buildings.
Verona, Congress of (1822) Last of the meetings held by the Qua¬ druple Alliance (Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Britain). The congress met in Verona, Italy, to consider a request by the alliance’s ally, France, to intervene in the revolutionary situation in Spain. The congress agreed to support France if it were attacked by Spain and authorized a French expe¬ dition into Spain. However, Britain threatened to use its sea power to pre¬ vent interference with the revolts in Spanish America. Increasing discord caused a breakdown in the congress system begun by the alliance in 1815.
Veronese \ 1 ver-3-'na-se\ / Paolo orig. Paolo Caliari (b. 1528, Verona, Republic of Venice—d. April 9, 1588, Venice) Italian painter. Son of a stonecutter from Verona, he was apprenticed at 13 to a painter. After 1553, when he received the first of many commissions in Venice, he became a major painter of the 16th-century Venetian school, a group of Renaissance artists known for their splendid use of colour and pageant¬ like compositions. His first works in Venice, ceiling paintings for the Doges’ Palace, employ skillful foreshortenings that make figures appear to be floating in space. He decorated the villas and palaces of the Vene¬ tian nobility and received many commissions for frescoes, altarpieces, and devotional paintings, including numerous “suppers” (e.g., The Pilgrims of Emmaus and Feast in the House of the Pharisees ) that allowed him to compose large groups of figures in complex Renaissance architectural settings. In decorating a villa built by Andrea Palladio at Maser (c. 1561), he brilliantly interpreted its architectural structure, breaking through the walls with illusionistic landscapes and opening the ceilings to blue skies with figures from Classical mythology. Whimsical details in his Last Sup¬ per (commissioned 1573) caused him to be summoned before the Inqui¬ sition. Painters from the 16th century on were inspired by his use of colour to express exuberance as well as to model form.
Verrazzano \,ver-3-'za-no\, Giovanni da (b. 1485, Tuscany, Italy—d. 1528, Lesser Antilles) Italian navigator and explorer for France. Educated in Florence, he moved to Dieppe, France, where he entered the
maritime service. In 1524 he was sent to find a westward passage to Asia and reached North America. He explored the eastern coast from Cape Fear northward and became the first European to explore the sites of present-day New York Harbor and Narragansett Bay. He sailed along the coast to New¬ foundland, then returned to France. He later led expeditions to Brazil (1527) and to the Caribbean, where he was killed and eaten by cannibals.
Verres Vver-.ezV Gaius (b. c. 115—d. 43 bc) Roman magistrate. As quaestor, Verres embezzled funds. He helped the governor of Cilicia, Gaius Dolabella, plunder the province (80-78), and then he helped con¬ vict Dolabella at Rome. He became praetor by bribery and abused his power. As governor of Sicily (73-71) his corruption was extreme; he was prosecuted so effectively by Cicero (70) that his lawyer had no reply. He fled into exile but was murdered, perhaps at the orders of Mark Antony, who then acquired his art collection.
Verrocchio \v3-'r6-ke-,6\, Andrea del (b. 1435, Florence—d. 1488, Venice) Italian sculptor and painter.
Little is certain about his early life.
His most important works were executed in his final two decades under the patronage of the Medici in his native Florence. His reputation as a master spread early, and many well-known artists studied at his stu¬ dio, including Leonardo da Vinci and Perugino; the young Leonardo prob¬ ably painted an angel and part of the distant landscape in Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ (c. 1470). Verroc¬ chio’s reputation as one of the great relief sculptors of the Renaissance was established with his cenotaph in the cathedral at Pistoia; while it remained unfinished at his death and was later changed by others, the relief’s arrangement of figures into a dramatically unified composition anticipates the Baroque sculpture of the 17th century. His bronze statue of the military officer Bartolomeo Colleoni (commissioned 1483, erected in Venice 1496) is one of the greatest equestrian statues of the Renaissance.
vers de societe \,ver-d3-s6s-ya-'ta\ French "society verse" Witty, typically ironic, light verse, written with polish and ease of expression to amuse a sophisticated audience. It has flourished in cultured societies, particularly in court circles and literary salons, from the time of Anacreon (6th century bc). Trivial subjects are treated in an intimate, witty manner, and even when social issues form the theme, the light mood prevails. The poetry of Ogden Nash, with its theme of self-ironic adult helplessness, is a 20th-century example.
Versace, Gianni (b. Dec. 2, 1946, Reggio Calabria, Italy—d. July 15, 1997, Miami Beach, Fla., U.S.) Italian fashion designer. He was born to a dressmaker mother. After working for several Italian ateliers in Milan, in 1978 Versace established his own company, Gianni Versace SpA. Throughout the 1980s and ’90s he built a fashion empire by producing ensembles that oozed sensuality and sexuality. He staged his seasonal fashion shows like rock concerts at his lavish design headquarters in Milan. On July 15, 1997, Versace was shot and killed on the front steps of his Miami Beach, Fla., home, allegedly by the serial killer Andrew Cunanan. At the time of his death, many believed that the designer’s 25-year career was at a peak.
Versailles \ver-'sl. Palace of Baroque palace southwest of Paris built chiefly under Louis XIV. It was the principal residence of the French kings and the seat of government from 1682 to 1789, with some 1,000 court¬ iers and 4,000 attendants residing there. Originally a hunting lodge, it was enlarged by Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Louis Le Vau (1612-70), with Charles Le Brun and Andre Le Notre, began work on the palace in the 1660s. A masterpiece of formal grandeur intended as the visible expres¬ sion of the glory of France, Versailles became the palatial ideal through¬ out Europe and the Americas. Le Notre’s inventive arrangement of earth forms, plantings, and fountains created vistas, terraces, formal gardens, and wooded areas that celebrated the delights of both open and intimate space. After Le Vau’s death, Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1646-1708) was
"The Mask of Joseph Vernet," chalk and pastel portrait by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour; in the Musee des Beaux- Arts, Dijon, Fr.
IAUROS—GIRAUDON FROM ART RESOURCE/EB INC.
Bartolomeo Colleoni, bronze statue by Andrea del Verrocchio, 1483-88; in Campo di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice.
BROGI—ALINARI FROM ART RESOURCE
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Versailles ► Vespasian I 1999
commissioned to triple the size of the palace and built the northern and southern wings, the Orangerie, and the Grand Trianon. Later additions include the Classically restrained Petit Trianon, built 1761-64 for Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour. The first scenes of the French Revolu¬ tion were enacted at Versailles, which had become a symbol of royal extravagance. In 1837 Louis- Philippe restored the palace and turned it into a museum.
Versailles, Treaty of International agreement, signed in 1919 at the Palace of Versailles, that concluded World War I. It was negotiated pri¬ marily by the U.S., Britain, and France, without participation by the war’s losers. Germany was forced to accept blame for Allied losses and to pay major reparations. Its European territory was reduced by about 10%, its overseas possessions were confiscated, and its military establishment was reduced. Although some of the treaty’s terms were eased in the 1920s, the bitterness it created helped to foster an environment that led to the growth of fascism in Italy and the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. The treaty also established the League of Nations, the International Labour Organiza¬ tion, and the Permanent Court of International Justice (later the Interna¬ tional Court of Justice). See also Fourteen Points.