Pushkin Museum. Pushkin, 14 December 2012 - 10 February 2013
Main Building, 12 Volkhonka

In Pushkin Museum exhibition "Lorenzo Lotto. Renaissance in the province of Macerata. Paintings of the Italian collections ».

Pushkin Museum. Pushkin continues to acquaint the audience with the work of Lorenzo Lotto - outstanding but little known to the public, the Italian Renaissance artist. In 2011, as part of a vast cultural program of the Year of Italy in Russia, Pushkin Museum exhibited two works by Lorenzo Lotto - paired portraits of Febo da Brescia and Laura yes Polo from the collection of the Brera Gallery in Milan. This exhibition - a large-scale meeting with the works of one of the geniuses of the XVI century, it includes 10 works and all of them, without exaggeration, are among the masterpieces. Such an exhibition introducing the works of Lorenzo Lotto, in Russia for the first time.

Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556) was born in Venice, but was forced to leave the city at a young age. His life and work are inextricably linked to the provincial cities of Northern Italy, from Lombardy and Veneto, and the province of Marche, in central Italy. As a rule, outside Venice, in provincial cities, Lotto received orders, worked, doomed to a restless and unsettled for the rest of life. Lacking clarity calm attitude of the artist is largely determined his special position in the art of his time. The works of the painter visibly clear break the harmony of the Renaissance, as opposed to her other world of images, designed to excite people, disturb the soul and stir the mind. Lotto creativity in all its depth reflected the contradictory era marked by wars and violent religious strife. It was in tune with the mood of the Reformation, which resonated in Italy. Lotto showed interest in the work of the great German artist Albrecht Dürer, whom he had known personally. They are connected by spiritual affinity, and not surprisingly, many of the Italian painter painted a pure expression of the northern and sharpness of the image. It is noteworthy that for years Lotto carried with him a portrait of the great reformer and theologian Martin Luther. His last years the artist spent in the so-called House of the Holy Virgin Mary (Santa Casa) in Loreto, with no corner of its own, and no possessions, no family.

The exhibition at the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin presented pictures painted by Lorenzo Lotto at different times of his life and associated with the province of Marche, where the artist returned repeatedly to carry out orders, mostly church. He worked for Ancona, Recanati, Jesi, Loreto and other cities, where he ordered mostly monumental altar compositions and small chapels images.

Lorenzo Lotto Mystical Betrothal of St.. Catherine. 1523 Source: arts-museum.ru

Lorenzo Lotto Madonna, crowned by angels, and Child with Saints Stephen, John the Evangelist, and Matthew Lawrence. 1538 Source: arts-museum.ru

Thus, the exhibition features the painting "St. mystical betrothal. Catherine "(1523), created by the master at work in Bergamo. Her client was shown to the left of the Madonna Niccolo Bongos, whose house was the work of a long time. The figures shown in the background of the parapet over which hung a carpet. Lotto portrayed him fine, according to the description of contemporaries, landscape with views of Mount Sinai. In 1527, when the French troops were in Bergamo, one of the soldiers cut the fragment of the composition and took with him ...

less dramatic fate of the other pictures on the image of St. Catherine - "St. Family with St. Catherine of Alexandria. " Painting signed by the artist and dated 1533 year. In the composition, where the center of gravity is the figure of a sleeping baby Jesus, lies an allusion to the impending death of the Savior. The canvas has long recognized as one of the top models of coloristic skill Lotto, who was able to create amazingly beautiful harmony of shades of green, red and gray, rolling from pearl to deep dark tones. Play of color artist enriches folds vibration and chiaroscuro. Both works are in the collection of the Academy of Carrara, Bergamo.

Lorenzo Lotto Annunciation. 1526-1530 Source: arts-museum.ru

compositions depicting the Virgin Mary and Angela make a scene of the Annunciation (1526-1530, Jesi, City Pinakothek), experienced by the artist in a completely new not similar to other well-known interpretation of the key. Lotto extremely feels the movement and color, by which it creates an emotional atmosphere of the scene. Particularly expressive angel figure resembling a light foam blue cape. The figure given in a sharp reduction in the complex spiral motion. These studies provide a basis to talk about the contacts with the German artist painters, particularly with Altdorfer and Grunewald.

Lorenzo Lotto Portrait Brembati hatch. Around 1518 Source: arts-museum.ru

The exposition became the famous "Portrait Brembati hatch" (about 1518) from the collection of the Academy of Carrara, Bergamo. In the picture a woman's figure clearly silhouetted against the night sky, the model looks at the viewer directly, showing the dress, jewelery and hair, most subtly drawn by the artist. Gesture of her hand creates a sense of a direct dialogue with the image, whose name has been established at the beginning of XX century. On its belonging to the famous family of Bergamo Brembati points emblem adorning the ring, and the name hatch (in Italian Lucina) concluded in "Rebus": the letters «CI» against the moon (luna) in conjunction give «Lu-CI-na» .

Lorenzo Lotto Bringing in the Temple. 1554-1555 Source: arts-museum.ru

The exhibition also presented and last work, full of a great painter before his death - "Bringing in the Temple" (1554-1555) from the collection of the Museum of the treasury of the temple Santa Casa (Holy House of the Virgin) in Loreto. This picture is almost universally recognized as the last work of the master, in which, as in the later canvases by Rembrandt etched bitter tragedy and despair. At the same time, the solution to this picturesque painting makes it one of the most emotionally powerful and contemporary works of the author. In this sense, the final phase of works by Lorenzo Lotto in common with the search for Caravaggio's final years.

Lorenzo Lotto Source: arts-museum.ru

Total exhibition features 10 paintings from the collections of museums in Italy, including the "Madonna with Child" (1526-1527, Quirinale Palace, Rome), "St . Roh "(1549, National Gallery of the Marche province, Urbino, Palazzo Ducale)," Madonna, crowned by angels, and Child with Saints Stephen, John the Evangelist, Matthew, and Lawrence "(1538, City Pinakothek, Ancona)," St. James Wanderer "(1511-1513, City Pinakothek, Recanati, Villa Colloredo Mels).

The exhibition will allow the viewer to discover new facets of the work of this original master, having become acquainted with his works, most of are written on religious subjects. Works by Lorenzo Lotto, so unlike the works of the great masters of the Renaissance - Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Titian, expand our knowledge of the art of the Renaissance in Italy, provide an opportunity to meet new and unexpected facets of the Italian artistic culture of the first half of the XVI century.

Source : arts-museum.ru