THE WANDERER, POOR AND IMPROVIDENT PAINTER – Lorenzo Lotto, between portraits and historical scenes

LORENZO LOTTO 1/4 – His work appeals to a modern audience, particularly because of the way he identifies with his subjects. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-d-ZhfeylE Well known for his perceptive portraits (and mystical paintings of religious subjects), he represents one of the best examples of the relationship between the Venetian and Central Italian schools. In the earlier years of his life, he lived at Treviso, and he always remained somewhat apart from the Venetian tradition.

LORENZO LOTTO 2/4 – His style fits within the High Renaissance (but in a transitional stage to 16th Century Florentine and Roman Mannerism). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPtR5Go-ls8 Between 1508 and 1512, he was in Rome, where he was influenced by Raphael. If you’re in Florence, remember that there are three pieces from Lotto in the Uffizi Gallery (Holy Family with Saints Jerome, Ann and Joachin, also his Susanna and the Elders, as well as, Portrait of a Youth).

LORENZO LOTTO 3/4 – He is known for his well-articulated gently rendered portraits, with soft and rich colors (and the sometimes fanciful character of his history painting). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKTan0tH9Ns After 1513 he lived primarily in Bergamo, where his style matured. His most successful works of this period are the altarpieces which show a new greater competence in rendering light and shade.

LORENZO LOTTO 4/4 – The somewhat melancholy charm of his mature work, are perhaps most evident in his portraits. In 1527 he returned to Venice, where he was influenced by the grand compositional schemes of Titian. Partially blind, in 1554 he entered the Santa Casa in Loreto (as an oblate member), with a permission to reside and work there, where he died at the monastery two years later. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTvMkVG4DJ8 The best book in English on Lotto? Is the classic study by Bernard Berenson: Lorenzo Lotto.

To pursue this issue, you can also read:

http://meetingbenches.com/2016/12/lorenzo-lotto-14801557-italian-painter-perceptive-portraits-mystical-paintings/