Brescia, an important painting by Lorenzo Lotto on loan to the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo

An illustrious guest at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia: until June 23, 2023, thanks to an extraordinary loan from the Nivaagaards Malerisamling Museum in Nivå, Denmark, the Lombard museum has on display a Portrait of a Man with Rosary, an important work by Lorenzo Lotto, to whom it was first attributed in 1875 by Giovanni Morelli, while in the past it was believed to be the work of Hans Holbein the Younger. Appearing in the early 20th century on the German antiques market, it was bought in 1904 by Johannes Hage, founder of the Nivaagaards Museum. In exchange for the prestigious loan, Sofonisba An guissola’s Portrait of a Lateran Canon by Sofonisba An guissola and Lucia Anguissola’s Portrait of Europa left for Nivå, which are featured in the first exhibition in Scandinavia dedicated to the painter Sofonisba Anguissola, running until Jan. 22, 2023. The two works will continue their journey with a second stop in Enschede, Netherlands, at the Rijksmuseum Twenthe, from February 12 to June 11, 2023.

The work is undoubtedly one of the most important examples of Lorenzo Lotto’s portrait production, for the monumentality of its setting but also for its exceptional state of preservation. Datable between 1524 and 1525, thus to the last phase of the artist’s Bergamasque period, it goes to enrich the room of sixteenth-century portraits at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, where works by Savoldo, Romanino, Moretto and Moroni already shine.

Portrait of a Man with Rosary is certainly one of the paintings most investigated by art historians from Bernard Berenson to Giovanni Morelli to Adolfo Venturi. There are many questions, many of them unanswered to this day and bound together in a kind of mystery that adds to the fascination of this painting. We do not know, for example, who the person depicted is. It was formerly thought to be a member of the d’Este family, because a coat of arms of theirs was on the frame, although it has since been shown that it was added in the 19th century, probably to make people believe that it had an illustrious provenance and thus facilitate its sale. It has then been more recently proposed that he may be a member of the Bergamasque Beroa family, by virtue of the fact that the figure wears a split ring on his index finger, with a decoration reminiscent of that lineage’s coat of arms.

The painting, as mentioned, will enter into dialogue with the male portraits by Savoldo, Moretto and Moroni in the room, with the aim of opening up a reflection on both the stylistic aspects of the production of the Venetian mainland (and in particular, a certain soft light also evident in Savoldo) and the intonation of these portraits, which are more juxtaposed than lofty.

From the very beginning, Lotto distinguished himself by a personal and intense portrait approach. Even in the case of the Danish painting, the character stands out with a presence that seems to anticipate some of the earliest Venetian portrait tests, such as the Dominican Friar of Treviso (1526) and theAndrea Odoni of the British Royal Collection (1527), marked by an unusual and solemn conception with which the master, back in his hometown, tried to prove himself equal to the competition with the undisputed protagonist of the scene: Titian

The temporary exhibition of the work Portrait of a Man with Rosary is part of the PTM Andata e Ritorno program, which sees Fondazione Brescia Musei transforming “departures” linked to loan requests into “arrivals” of guest works.

Brescia, an important painting by Lorenzo Lotto on loan to the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo

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