Business goals in San Zanipolo
In 1571 Venice the fire broke in the official church of the Dominican Order, San Zanipolo, known to non-Venetians as Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo. Among other things burned was a painting by Titian, The Last Supper. It hung in the refectory (simply put, in the cafeteria), and the refectory was a very important place. In addition to the actual consumption of food (with a prayer, and according to a strict protocol), all the Dominicans of Veneto and the world met here, and it was a place to receive important guests. The refectory was inferior in importance only to the temple itself.
It is not surprising that the industrious Dominicans immediately ordered a new painting of the same subject, this time from Veronese. A few months later the artist showed the result and the Dominicans saw that they were some way off. Ordered for a lump sum, a huge (made to fit the wall, 555×1280 centimeters) picture was not exactly what business owners have expected.
Here it is necessary to look a couple of decades ago. At the Council of Trent (1545–1563) the Catholic Church, in response to the Reformation, have — simply put — rebranded itself. Acting in a rapidly changing aggressively competitive environment, using holistic approaches and leveraging existing religious infrastructure, the Catholics redefined their marketing communication. Of course, the corporate logos have remained the same (attempts by the marketing department and creative agencies to upgrade the identity were halted at birth). But the communication itself has changed. Nasty Protestants communicated with simplicity and restraint — we, Catholics, will have grandeur and richness. They dare to creatively rethink the brand’s values, like drawing icons with non-standard attributes — we will not. Etc.
In such a situation, what Veronese painted was completely incompatible with the brand book:
Firstly, there were too many people in the picture. Secondly, they were strange, like a dwarf in the foreground. Next… Ay wey, where to start…
The Dominicans brought the Inquisition to deal with a daring contractor and Veronese was summoned for questioning, the notes of which have survived. Subsequently, this interrogation — and the situation in a whole — was brilliantly parodied by Monty Python:
In the end, Veronese simply renamed the painting into a dogmatically acceptable Feast in the house of Levi. Dominicans timidly took the picture, hung it in the refectory and for over two hundred years stared on it at every meal (then the French stole the picture, then it was returned and now it hangs in the Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia, where you shalt go and stare too).
This was just infotainment bit and not necessarily useful knowledge. Much more interesting is the question that is implicitly contained in this situation. The question is:
Why did Dominicans still accepted, paid for and hang up the painting that so blatantly did not solve their business goals?
The answer to this question will be unpleasant to many. It is that the Dominicans (dogmatically flawless men, strong business executives, etc.) knew or felt that most things have a price, but only a few have a value. And they were ready to pay a very real price to get an immaterial value. Simply put, they were willing to pay so that three times a day, every meal, they can stare at something marvelous and beautiful and fuck the business goals.
Are we willing?
Liked this text? I also wrote a book on design history and culture. More of the same, but deeper, longer and with more illustrations.
