LOTTO, LORENZO

(1480-1556)

According to Giorgio Vasari, Lorenzo Lotto trained with Giovanni Bellini alongside Giorgione and Titian. He was active in Venice, Rome, Bergamo, the Marches, and perhaps also the Tuscan region. His life is only documented after 1538 when he began keeping a record book of his financial activities. One of his notable works is the portrait of newlywedsMaster Marsilio and His Wife(1523; Madrid, Prado), the groom placing a ring on his bride's finger and a putto behind fixing a yoke, symbol of marriage, on their necks. The monumental figures are pushed to the foreground so they occupy a large portion of the pictorial space and the draperies are sculptural, both characteristic of Lotto's style. The same elements are included in hisSacra Conversazioneof the 1520s (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), which utilizes a Venetian format of figures set against a luscious landscape, as well as the rich colorism of the Venetian School. Other works by Lotto includeChrist Taking Leave of His Mother(1521; Berlin, Staatliche Museen), theAnnunciation(c. 1527; Recanati, Pinacoteca Comunale),Lucretia(1528-1530; London, National Gallery), and thePortrait of Andrea Odoni(1527; Hampton Court, Royal Collection).