Lorenzo Lotto - The Frescoes In The Oratorio Suardi At Trescore

<div>In 1524 Lorenzo Lotto (Venice, 1480 - Loreto, 1556), one of the greatest Italian artists of the Renaissance, painted the walls of a small oratory. The building, owned by Battista Suardi, the nobleman who had commissioned the frescoes, was situat ed in the garden of his country house at Trescore Balneario, a few miles from Bergamo. The encounter between the Venetian painter and his refined patron, in a year marked by obscure signs in the heavens and heretical stirrings, produced one of the c e ntury s most unusual cycles of paintings, not only from the artistic viewpoint but also from that of the complexity of its doctrinal underpinnings.<br><br>The paintings of the great Venetian artist are thoroughly analyzed on the visual plane as wel l, by means of a lavish set of illustrations. A series of explanatory diagrams and close-up photographs, on a one-to-one scale, permit the reader to appreciate the high formal qualities of this cycle of paintings and to get to the heart of its beaut y a nd meaning.<br><br>In this volume the author, Francesca Cortesi Bosco, traces the dense web of religious and cultural motivations that lie behind Lotto s masterpiece, presenting a fascinating picture of the artistic life of the time and opening u p co mpletely new prospects for its interpretation.<br></div> <div>In 1524 Lorenzo Lotto (Venice, 1480 - Loreto, 1556), one of the greatest Italian artists of the Renaissance, painted the walls of a small oratory. The building, owned by Battista Suar di, t he nobleman who had commissioned the frescoes, was situated in the garden of his country house at Trescore Balneario, a few miles from Bergamo. The encounter between the Venetian painter and his refined patron, in a year marked by obscure signs in th e heavens and heretical stirrings, produced one of the century s most unusual cycles of paintings, not only from the artistic viewpoint but also from that of the complexity of its doctrinal underpinnings.<br><br>The paintings of the great Vene tian ar