Portrait of a Man, Possibly Girolamo Rosati
Lorenzo Lotto·1533–34
Historical Context
Lotto's Portrait of a Man, Possibly Girolamo Rosati, from 1533-34 belongs to the series of penetrating male portraits he painted during his Marche period, when he was working in Jesi, Recanati, and other provincial centers. Lotto's portraits are distinguished by their unusual directness and psychological complexity — his sitters frequently seem caught in private thought rather than posing, their expressions suggesting an inner life that the painting interrupts rather than commemorates. This quality of psychological intimacy, combined with Venetian colorism and a distinctive use of light that was neither Venetian nor Florentine, made his portraits among the most interesting in early sixteenth-century Italian painting.
Technical Analysis
Lotto's oil on canvas captures the sitter with characteristic psychological acuity, using direct eye contact, warm lighting, and subtle color to create a portrait of compelling individuality and inner life.
Provenance
Imperial collection, Vienna;; - 1923 Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna, Austria), sold to Moritz Lindemann, 1923;; 1923 Moritz Lindemann (Vienna, Austria),sold to Wilhelm von Ofenheim, 1923;; 1923 - 1930 Wilhelm von Ofenheim, 1860-1930 (Vienna, Austria), upon his death, held in trust by his heirs, 1930;; 1930 - 1939 Von Ofenheim family trust, sold to Rosenberg and Stiebel, 1939;; [Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1950.
