LORENZO LOTTO
AND THE RENAISSANCE
LORENZO LOTTO
AND THE RENAISSANCE
The work of Lorenzo Lotto represents one of the most exciting and meaningful testimonies of the relationship between Venice and the rest of Italy during the Renaissance. The artist’s errant and restless existence took him from Venice to Bergamo, Treviso, Rome and the cities of the Marche region, and ended with his death in Loreto, which he had made his home in 1554. It is here in the Marche that Lotto was most active. Venetian by birth, Lorenzo Lotto spent most of life away from his hometown, where he never achieved rightful recognition, overshadowed by the work of his greatest contemporaries, Titian, Palma the Elder and Giorgione. The painter's decision to move to the Marche was in line with the centuries-old cultural and commercial relations between Venice and the Adriatic territory of the Papal States. Perhaps he was also hoping to obtain contacts with the Roman Curia through nearby Loreto, a pilgrimage destination highly regarded by Julius II. His stay in Rome in 1509 was brief, and overshadowed by Raphael, whose influence on Lotto after 1509 is evident. Thus, his wanderings brought him to the Marche, where he took up commissions both public and private, specializing in devotional and sacred themes, but also producing some memorable portraits and secular allegories. An exhibition on Lotto allows to tell the story of much of Italy during the Renaissance: the artists and their patrons, cities and politics, and a wider panorama made of style and taste.
Lorenzo Lotto Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1512 Oil on panel, 29x23,5 cm Rome, BNL-BNP Paribas Collection
Lorenzo Lotto St. James the Pilgrim, 1511-1513 Oil on panel, 20x15 cm Recanati, Pinacoteca Civica
Lorenzo Lotto Madonna and Child with Sts. Roch and Sebastian, c. 1522 Oil on panel, 80x70 cm Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi
“O Lotto come la bonta' buono, e come la virtu' virtuoso� (Pietro Aretino, Letters, Book IV, 1548)
Lorenzo Lotto Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, 1523 Oil on canvas, 189x134 cm Bergamo, Accademia Carrara
Lorenzo Lotto Annunciation of the Virgin, 1526-1527 Oil on panel, 42x86 cm Jesi, Pinacoteca Civica
Lorenzo Lotto Announcing Angel, 1526-1527 Oil on panel, 42x86 cm Jesi, Pinacoteca Civica
Lorenzo Lotto Sacred Family with St. Catherine (detail), 1533 Oil on canvas, 81x115 cm Bergamo, Accademia Carrara
Lorenzo Lotto Sacred Family with St. Catherine (detail), 1533 Oil on canvas, 81x115 cm Bergamo, Accademia Carrara
Lorenzo Lotto Christ and the Adulteress, 1548-1550 Oil on canvas, 105x132 cm Loreto, Museo Antico Tesoro della Santa Casa
Lorenzo Lotto Sts. Christopher, Roch and Sebastian, 1535 ca. Oil on canvas, 276x240 cm Loreto, Museo Antico Tesoro della Santa Casa
“If you want to see just how simple and true of form, and thus pre-caravaggesque, Lotto’s work is, look at the figure of St. Laurence in the Ancona altarpiece, formed by light, just as Caravaggio will paint fifty years later” (Roberto Longhi, Quesiti caravaggeschi, 1929)
Lorenzo Lotto Madonna and Child with Saints, 1538 Oil on canvas, 294x216 cm Ancona, Pinacoteca Civica
Lorenzo Lotto Annunciation, 1534-1535 Oil on canvas, 166x114 cm Recanati, Pinacoteca Civica
Lorenzo Lotto Presentation of Christ at the Temple, 1554-1555 Oil on canvas, 80x34,5 cm Private collection
PORTRAITS
Lorenzo Lotto Portrait of Lucina Brembati, 1518 ca. Oil on panel, 53x45 cm Bergamo, Accademia Carrara
Lorenzo Lotto Portrait of a Young Gentleman in his Study, c. 1530 Oil on canvas, 98x111 cm Venice, Gallerie dell’Accademia
Lorenzo Lotto Portrait of a Gentleman, 1543 Oil on canvas, 90x75 cm Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera
Lorenzo Lotto Portrait of Laura da Pola, 1544 Oil on canvas, 90x75 cm Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera
Lorenzo Lotto Portrait of Febo da Brescia, 1544 Oil on canvas, 82x78 cm Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera
LORENZO LOTTO
AND THE RENAISSANCE
LORENZO LOTTO AND THE RENAISSANCE IN THE MARCHE