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Lorenzo Lotto - Nativity [1523]
Lorenzo Lotto -
Nativity [1523]
Washington NGA AN 1939,1,288
Lorenzo Lotto (born around 1480, died after September 1st, 1556) has come up with a lot of unusual ideas for this picture and the importance of Joseph's role is part of it. Usually Joseph stays asleep or dreaming in the background, since he is only Jesus' foster father. Here, on the other hand, in terms of composition, he forms the equilibrium counterpart to Mary, the Mother of God. Singing angel putti hover above the two and the scene takes place outside the stable under a majestic arch that could belong to a house entrance. Nevertheless, the child lies in a basket that could be viewed as a crib. On the other hand, the crucifix on the left on the wall is very strange. Here the picture narration is abandoned in favor of meaning, because the incarnation of God in birth is only the prerequisite for the later sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.
Lotto is one of the many first-rate painters who today receive too little attention alongside the few giants like Raphael and Titian. Trained in Venice, he soon moved into a restless life that drove him from northern Italy to Rome, then to the Marche and back to Venice via Bergamo. The painting here - The Nativity - is from his time in Bergamo.
Lorenzo Lotto - Nativity [1523]
Lorenzo Lotto -
Nativity [1523]
Washington NGA AN 1939,1,288
Lorenzo Lotto (born around 1480, died after September 1st, 1556) has come up with a lot of unusual ideas for this picture and the importance of Joseph's role is part of it. Usually Joseph stays asleep or dreaming in the background, since he is only Jesus' foster father. Here, on the other hand, in terms of composition, he forms the equilibrium counterpart to Mary, the Mother of God. Singing angel putti hover above the two and the scene takes place outside the stable under a majestic arch that could belong to a house entrance. Nevertheless, the child lies in a basket that could be viewed as a crib. On the other hand, the crucifix on the left on the wall is very strange. Here the picture narration is abandoned in favor of meaning, because the incarnation of God in birth is only the prerequisite for the later sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.
Lotto is one of the many first-rate painters who today receive too little attention alongside the few giants like Raphael and Titian. Trained in Venice, he soon moved into a restless life that drove him from northern Italy to Rome, then to the Marche and back to Venice via Bergamo. The painting here - The Nativity - is from his time in Bergamo.