AUTHOR: Lorenzo Lotto
CENTURY: XVI°
CHURCH: Church of San Giacomo dall’Orio
DATE: 1546
POSITION: presbytery
MEASUREMENT: 241 x 170 cm
METHOD: oil painting on canvas
The altarpiece represents Virgin on the Throne and Child with Saints James, Andrew, Cosma, and Damiano, and was done by Lorenzo Lotto dated in 1546, noted from the plaque placed at the base of the throne where the signature can be found.
It represents one of the few works conserved in Venice from the artist, who although Venetian, worked mostly in Lombardy (Bergamo) and Marche (Ancona, Jesi, Loreto).
The Virgin is placed on a high throne and holds the Child on her lap. In the foreground, the two apostles Andrew and James emerge and are assisted by Saints Cosma e Damiano.
The simple composition and reduced color tones are unanimously noted by critics. From one point of view, these characteristics agree with the artist’s change of interest he had towards the mystic moment in this piece, (turned into a simplified expression) and from another point, Lotto’s weariness during that period due an illness that had struck him while working on the altarpiece.
