Portrait of Febo da Brescia

Lorenzo Lotto

Download hi-res image TITLE Portrait of Febo da Brescia
AUTHOR Lorenzo Lotto
DATE 1543 - 4
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
TECNICA OPERA oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 82 x 78
INVENTORY 372
ROOM XIX
FIRMA Laurent. Loto. p.
Work on display

The portrait of Febo da Brescia, an important member of the community of Treviso whose high social rank is underlined by his elegant clothing, can be dated to 1543-44 on the basis of the identification proposed by Bernard Berenson between the person portrayed and the “gentleman” who in 1543 owed the artist the payment “for two pictures of life-size half-length figures,” i.e. his own likeness “and that of his wife mistress Laura de Puola”.
The slightly lower height of Febo’s portrait with respect to that of his wife hanging next to it and the fact that his head is much closer to the frame suggest that the upper part of the canvas has been cut off.