Lotto, Lorenzo (c. 1480-1556)

Venetian painter active in Bergamo, Treviso, Venice, Ancona, and Rome. His early works were influenced by Giovanni Bellini. He painted religious works but is best known for his portraits, which often convey a sense of unease or an air of melancholy.

He evolved a rich and imaginative style, as in the Prothonotary Apostolic, Giuliano (National Gallery). A Lady as Lucretia (also National Gallery) well represents a type of his work which inspired the young Caravaggio. His most celebrated altarpieces are in the churches of the Carmine and SS Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, the cathedral at Asola and at Monte San Giusto near Ancona, where the church contains a Crucifixion with 23 life-size figures. The last two years of his life were spent in monastic retreat in the Santa Casa monastery at Loreto.