palliate 
一時やわらげる、言い繕う、酌量する
1.to relieve or lessen without curing; mitigate; alleviate.
2.to try to mitigate or conceal the gravity of (an offense) by excuses, apologies, etc.; extenuate.
Citations for vernissage
He was a strong man with an austere command of himself, and when he had to face death he divested himself of all that could palliate the suffering, and stood up to it with a stark resolution which was more Roman than Christian.