Lorenzo Lotto: Portraits


Fabulous exhibition at the National Gallery of portraits by Lorenzo Lotto.

The show took you through Lotto’s life and travels around Italy and put him in the context of the time. I got the impression of a good artist who realised that he couldn’t compete with Titian in Venice so spread his net further to the outlying cities and carved out a steady career. You often come across his pictures in Renaissance shows and are always impressed by them but he is even more impressive when the work is seen together.

I liked the way the portraits were shown with some of the types of objects the figures are holding which emphasised the symbolism of the work. I loved seeing a contemporary dress shown with one of the pictures so you understood how the clothing worked. Also to see a statue that may be the actual one in one of the pictures.

It was fascinating to see a portrait with its cover as well as a frame which would have taken a cover. We often forgot that some of these pictures were displayed with a different picture in front of the face as the pictures and portraits have been separated.

Much as the show told you a lot of practical things about the art of the period the stars were the pictures themselves. You realised how many of the portraits you love are by Lotto and you were introduced to some lovely new works. Who could resist Queen Catherina of Cyprus at the Virgin Mary (look her us she’s a fascinating figure!), the triple portraits of a goldsmith and the wonderful portrait of a young man with a lizard showing a little bit of skin between his doublet and hose.

Closes 10 February 2019

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