Lorenzo Lotto, exhibition in Bergamo on the San Bernardino Altarpiece with photographs by Axel Hütte

In 2025, Accademia Carrara pays tribute to one of the most significant masters of the Italian Renaissance, Lorenzo Lotto (Venice, 1480 - Loreto, 1556/1557), with an exhibition celebrating the 500th year since his departure from Bergamo. It is an event that combines art, history and photography, with the San Bernardino Altarpiece as the centerpiece of an exhibition itinerary that winds its way through the museum and the surrounding area. The initiative, curated by Maria Luisa Pacelli with the photographic section curated by Filippo Maggia, is a journey that offers new perspectives on Lotto’s work and his connection to the city that saw him as a protagonist for 12 years.

Lotto arrived in Bergamo in 1513, where he spent the most fruitful years of his career. His production in the city marked a turning point in his artistic evolution, culminating in works that are now considered among the most innovative of the Renaissance. In 2025, to celebrate 500 years since his departure, Accademia Carrara presents the San Bernardino Altarpiece, one of his best-known masterpieces. Hailing from the church of the same name, which is closed to the public for now, the work will be on view in the museum in a display that allows visitors to enter the painting, exploring every detail of the work with a never-before-seen perspective.

“Welcoming Lorenzo Lotto’s extraordinary San Bernardino Altarpiece to the Carrara Academy is a profound emotion and a rare privilege,” says Elena Carnevali, president of the Fondazione Accademia Carrara and mayor of Bergamo. "It is not only a matter of offering a temporary home to the masterpiece, during the restoration work of the church that usually guards it, but also of giving everyone the opportunity to admire, with a fresh look, the seven masterpieces of unparalleled refinement and beauty that find a home in our museum collection: iconic works such as the famous Lucina Brembati, the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, the Holy Family up to the Portrait of a Young Man, just to name a few. Not only that. Axel Hütte’s photography exhibition, which reinterprets the great Venetian master’s universe with his contemporary gaze, opens up new, unexpected, deeply suggestive connections. A dialogue between past and present, painting and photography, that enriches the visitor’s experience and fuels thought. I would also like to emphasize the economic contribution that Fondazione Accademia Carrara allocates to the renovation of the church of San Bernardino, a concrete gesture of closeness to the community, which testifies to the profound vocation of our institution: to be a cultural, social and civil garrison of our territory.

“The genius of Lorenzo Lotto is back in Carrara, with an exhibition that fulfills a number of important objectives that are part of the mission of every museum,” says Sergio Gandi, Councillor for Culture City of Bergamo. "First and foremost, the exhibition enhances the local heritage, both that of the collection and that which, although not directly owned by the municipality, represents a significant part of our cultural identity. It brings forward actions of protection and usability, preserving the Lotto Altarpiece during the restoration work in the church of San Bernardino while favoring public access to the work, otherwise not possible. And it is also an event that values the museum’s social role by allocating a portion of ticket revenue to the restoration of the church. Director Maria Luisa Pacelli also strengthens Fondazione Accademia Carrara’s relationship with the diocese and the neighborhood with this operation. Axel Hütte’s artistic intervention enriches the exhibition with a dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary, inviting the viewer to look with a new eye at some of the Lottesque works scattered throughout the province, opening communicating vessels between today’s artistic production, in this case photography, and ancient art, always stimulating to create new connections.

“Three factors characterize this project: the sense of responsibility towards heritage, the social impact and the resulting artistic action,” say Maria Luisa Pacelli and Gianpietro Bonaldi, Director and General Manager Fondazione Accademia. "Carrara. Carrara, with DENTRO LORENZO LOTTO, shows that it is a museum that fully understands its role and acts. By taking care of the protection of an absolute masterpiece of art history, by making itself available to the community of which it is itself a part, by producing an exhibition with an international profile."

“The selection of photographs proposed in the exhibition,” says Filippo Maggia, curator photographic section, “is a synthesis of the respectful interpretation of Lotto’s works with the memory of the places where they are placed, in a time that invites the viewer to the contemplation of what is a work in the work. Lorenzo Lotto’s portraits dialogue with the space in an alternation of perspective readings that induce the viewer to approach the work progressively, as is customary when, visiting a church, the eye immediately recognizes the magnificent canvas in the chapel and, approaching it, grasps its refined details.”

“We are delighted to be at the side of Accademia Carrara in this extraordinary occasion that celebrates the genius of Lorenzo Lotto,” says Don Davide Rota Conti, director of the Office for Ecclesiastical Cultural Assets Diocese of Bergamo and Diocesan Museum Adriano Bernareggi. "The exhibition is not only an opportunity to admire a celebrated work up close and in an appropriate context, but it represents a good example of how two Bergamo cultural institutions - Accademia Carrara and Museo diocesano Adriano Bernareggi - although different in heritage, history and vocation, have worked in synergy for the good of the city and for the enhancement of its artistic heritage. The exhibition DENTRO LORENZO LOTTO is the fruit of a shared vision: an unmissable opportunity to explore the world of an artist who had an indissoluble bond with our city. We are proud to be able to participate in this initiative and to be, together with Carrara, at the service of communities and committed to the protection and preservation of the great heritage of our territory."

“An important step has been realized for the future of the church of San Bernardino,” says Don Pietro Biaggi, provost of Sant’Alessandro della Croce in Bergamo. “Thanks to the involvement and collaboration with Fondazione Accademia Carrara and the Diocese, the San Bernardino Altarpiece is returned to the gaze of citizens and all visitors in the Carrara space and from September in Città Alta, on the occasion of the opening of the new Bernareggi Diocesan Museum. A significant example of synergy between the Parish of St. Alexander of the Cross and the main institutions of Bergamo, aimed at the protection of the artistic heritage and its enhancement.”

The San Bernardino Altarpiece: a masterpiece by Lotto

The San Bernardino Altarpiece, painted in 1521, depicts the Madonna and Child between Saints Joseph, Bernardine of Siena, John the Baptist, Anthony Abbot and five angels. This work, one of the high points of Lotteschi’s production, is characterized by innovative iconographic elements, such as the choice to set the scene outdoors and the introduction of a large green drape supported by angels in flight. The central figure of a writing angel, according to art critic Roberto Longhi, would have influenced the creation of the angel in Caravaggio’s Rest during the Flight into Egypt.

The display of the altarpiece, which can be seen for the first time in such a close and detailed perspective, allows a close look at the characters’ expressions, their poses and minute details, such as the artist’s signature in the foreground next to a delicate still life. The close-up view offers an experience that allows one to appreciate details that, in its original location, are difficult to perceive.

The Carrara: guardian of the Lotteschian tradition

The Accademia Carrara is one of the museums that preserves the largest number of works by Lorenzo Lotto. Its collection includes seven masterpieces by the Venetian master, including the Portrait of a Young Man, the Deposition of Christ in the Tomb, and the Portrait of Lucina Brembati. The permanent exhibition, which is enriched with the arrival of the San Bernardino Altarpiece, is an opportunity to delve into Lotto’s artistic production in Bergamo. Room 10 of the museum houses a selection of works that offer food for thought on the master’s figurative language and his ability to experiment with new and daring solutions.

The exhibition of Lotto’s works at Carrara allows us to trace a thread that connects his training among Venetian masters, such as Giovanni Bellini and Alvise Vivarini, and his encounter with his Bergamasque contemporaries Andrea Previtali and Giovanni Busi known as Cariani. Lotto thus became the interpreter of a new style that embodied the modernity of the Renaissance, with an artistic quest that transcended traditional iconographies to give rise to more personal and innovative compositions.

The photography of Axel Hütte: a new look at the works of lotto

The exhibition is enriched with a contemporary element thanks to the photographic section by Axel Hütte, one of the most important German photographers of his generation. His photographs, made with a combination of traditional and modern techniques, relate Lotto’s works to the spaces that house them, such as churches in Bergamo and the Suardi Oratory in Trescore Balneario. Light, a central element in Hütte’s work, becomes a means of restoring the mystical atmosphere of sacred places, accentuating the link between the works and their surrounding architectural context.

Hütte, a member of the Düsseldorf school of photography, is known for his realistic approach and his interest in natural light and color. His images, exhibited on the second floor of the museum, contribute to a new interpretation of Lotto’s works, adding another layer of reflection on the relationship between Renaissance art and contemporary photography.

Inside Lorenzo Lotto is an enhancement and protection project for the San Bernardino Altarpiece, which is at the center of a major restoration initiative. The church that houses the work, in fact, is closed to the public because of structural problems related to the deterioration of the roof. Accademia Carrara has decided to take charge of the situation, temporarily hosting the work and earmarking part of the proceeds from entrance fees for the church’s renovation work.

The project also has a social dimension, in that the Accademia Carrara, together with the Museo Diocesano Adriano Bernareggi, is promoting an initiative that goes beyond a simple exhibition. The exhibition thus becomes an opportunity to support the community, allowing the public to admire a masterpiece at a time of difficulty for the church that holds it. After the conclusion of the exhibition, the San Bernardino Altarpiece will be transferred to the Diocesan Museum, where it will remain until the church renovations are completed.

The tour: an opportunity to explore Lotto’s legacy in Bergamo

The Inside Lorenzo Lotto exhibition extends beyond the walls of the museum, with a tour that allows visitors to explore Lotto’s masterpieces in and around Bergamo. The itinerary includes churches and significant sites that house works by the master, such as the Church of Saints Bartholomew and Stephen, the Church of Sant’Alessandro della Croce, and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The itinerary offers a comprehensive experience to rediscover Lotto’s presence in Bergamo and appreciate his influence on the city’s artistic landscape.

In addition to the stand-alone tour, four guided tours are planned, allowing participants to explore Lotto’s works in depth and better understand the historical and artistic context that characterized his career. The tours, by reservation only, are scheduled for May 3, June 22, July 19 and August 31.

Accompanying the exhibition will be a catalog edited by Maria Luisa Pacelli, which brings together essays and insights on the San Bernardino Altarpiece and the work of Axel Hütte. The volume, published by laCarrara Edizioni, contains contributions by Massimo Ferretti and Enrico Maria Dal Pozzolo, who offer new perspectives on Lotto’s art, as well as a section devoted to Hütte’s photographs, with a text by Filippo Maggia and an interview with the photographer.

Lorenzo Lotto, exhibition in Bergamo on the San Bernardino Altarpiece with photographs by Axel Hütte

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