Giona (Lotto)

Jonah by Lotto depicts the reluctant prophet whose story of flight, engulfment by a great fish, and eventual obedience to God was interpreted as a prefiguration of Christ’s death and resurrection. The Jonah narrative was thus one of the most theologically significant subjects in the Old Testament cycle. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays nervous, charged atmosphere in portraits, symbolic objects placed with enigmatic purpose, eclectic absorption of influences from Germany, Raphael, and Giorgione, restless spatial invention.

Lotto renders the prophet with characteristic expressiveness. The composition captures Jonah’s complex emotions with the psychological directness that distinguishes Lotto’s approach to biblical narrative.