Lorenzo Lotto - Portraits

Lorenzo Lotto uniquely portrayed a cross section of middle-class sitters, among them clerics, merchants and humanists. His compositions are rich in symbolism and imbued with great psychological depth, and the prominent inclusion of objects which hinted at the social status, interests and aspirations of his subjects adds meaning to each work.

Despite the enormous appreciation that Lotto has enjoyed since Bernard Berenson (1856–1959) identified him as the first modern portraitist, no monograph has been devoted to this specific aspect of his work. This catalogue rectifies the omission, offering an unprecedented display of the artist’s still relatively unknown portrait drawings alongside his painted ones produced over the course of five decades. It also includes essays by leading experts discussing the technical, material, social and technological issues relating to Lotto’s portraits, as well as a revision of the documentary sources for their study.