Benedetto Caliari

Benedetto Caliari (1538–1598) worked in Venice within one of the most productive painting families of the late Cinquecento. Born in Verona to the stonecutter Gabriele Caliari, he was the younger brother of Paolo Caliari, known as Veronese, and became one of his chief assistants, alongside Veronese's sons Carlo and Gabriele. Within this workshop Benedetto is thought to have taken a leading role in devising the grand architectural settings — colonnades, staircases, loggias — that give Veronese's crowded narrative scenes their theatrical depth.