The Sixteenth-Century Italian Paintings Volume I

£75.00

This highly anticipated catalogue of sixteenth-century paintings from the distinguished collection of the National Gallery in London encompasses artists who were active in Bergamo, Brescia, and Cremona, cities characterized as much by the artistic interaction between them as by the influence of Venice.

The artists include such well-known names as Lorenzo Lotto, Moretto, and Moroni, along with less familiar ones such as Bartolomeo Veneto and Callisto Piazza.

For each of the paintings, distinguished scholar and curator Nicholas Penny provides comprehensive information about technique and materials, conservation and condition, and subject and iconography.

An account of the painting's original patronage is followed by a discussion of changing tastes, interpretation, and how the picture was esteemed (or neglected) over the centuries.

One third of the paintings catalogued here are portraits, and entries include fascinating sections on contemporary dress, furnishings, and accessories.

Some, such as Lorenzo Lotto's celebrated Portrait of a Woman inspired by Lucretia and Moroni's portrait of a tailor, have long been highly regarded, but this catalogue sheds new light on exactly what is represented in these familiar but enigmatic images.

Detailed descriptions of frames and framing reflect the growing interest in this field among curators and the general public.

An appendix provides fascinating entries on some of the great collectors and collections of the past. Biographical sketches of each artist's character and career provide valuable information for the researcher, the general reader and the scholar alike.

Funded with a grant from the American Friends of the National Gallery, and made possible by a generous donation from Arturo and Holly Melosi through the Arthur and Holly Magill Foundation.

For a review by Jacob Simon and more information about frames please visit The National Portrait Gallery website.

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