All the artists catalogued in this volume were active in Bergamo, Brescia & Cremona in the sixteenth century, cities characterised as much by the artistic interaction between them as by the influence of Venice. They include such well-known names as Lorenzo Lotto, Moretto & Moroni, as well as less familiar ones such as Bartolomeo Veneto & Callisto Piazza. The comprehensive entry for each picture covers technique & materials, conservation & condition, subject & iconography. A brief but informative account of the original patronage of the painting is followed by a discussion of changing tastes, & of how the picture has been interpreted & esteemed (or neglected) during subsequent centuries. More than a third of the paintings catalogued here are portraits, & these entries include valuable sections on contemporary dress, furnishings & accessories. Some of the paintings, such as Lotto’s celebrated Portrait of a Woman inspired by Lucretia & Moroni’s portrait of a tailor, have long been highly regarded, but this catalogue sheds new light on exactly what is represented in these familiar but enigmatic images. Detailed descriptions of frames & framing reflect the growing interest in this field among both curators & the general public. An extended appendix provides fascinating entries on some of the great collectors & collections of the past. Biographies of the artists provide valuable information for the researcher, especially where the artist is little known, while for the general reader & scholar alike, these sketches of the artist’s character & career are a useful aid to a fuller understanding of his work. NICHOLAS PENNY was Director of the National Gallery from 2008 to 2015. He was previously Senior Curator of Sculpture & Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, & prior to that, Keeper & Clore Curator at the National Gallery, London. His publications include Giotto to Dürer (1991); the Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum (1992); The Materials of Sculpture (1993); the National Gallery catalogue of The Sixteenth Century Italian Paintings Volume II: Venice 1540–1600 (2008); A Closer Look: Frames (2010); & The National Gallery, London: Director’s Choice (2011). ...

This volume

Includes:: some of the greatest pictures in the National Gallery: Titian’s Vendramin Family venerating

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Create your own bespoke print of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s The Skiff (La Yole) from our collection. About this painting The Skiff (La Yole), 1875 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1982 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

Produced exclusively for the National Gallery, this unique jigsaw puzzle featuring Renoir’s The Skiff is the perfect choice for both beginners & experienced puzzlers. This 500 piece puzzle fits together perfectly to create a first-class 3D image of the masterpiece. ...

This expansive view across a pond on the skirts of a forest is a copy of a composition by Jacob van Ruisdael from the late 1650s, now in a Canadian private collection. The dark looming trees, powerfully silhouetted against the bright, cloudy sky are a typ ...

A fragment, probably of 1455-60, from the tops of the shutters of the high altarpiece in the abbey of Saint Bertin in Saint-Omer, northern France. The altarpiece itself, of precious metal, made in 1455-9, is now lost. The inside shutters (the larger parts of which are now at Berlin) depict episodes from the life of Saint Bertin. The corresponding fragment shows 'A Choir of Angels'. Gothic architecture is painted on the outsides. ...

These seven panels come from the back of a large two-sided polyptych made for the high altar of San Francesco, Borgo Sansepolcro & depict the life of Saint Francis, founder of the Franciscan Order, who died in 1226. The altarpiece was commissioned in ...

Create your own bespoke print of Canaletto’s The Stonemason's Yard from our collection. About this painting Venice: Campo S. Vidal & Santa Maria della Carità (' The Stonemason's Yard'), about 1725 © The National Gallery, London This painting joined our collection in 1828 With our custom print service, you can order your own fully customised reproduction from the National Gallery Collection & exhibitions. Choose your own size, print material & frames & have your masterpiece delivered straight to your door. ...

This painting of a storm, with its dramatic sky, bold brushwork & colour, is typical of Diaz's later work. Diaz was an inspiration to younger French artists, including the Impressionists. ...

Cimon, a handsome but coarse & uneducated youth, fell in love with Iphigenia (or Efigenia) & married her. The effects of love were beneficial & turned him into an educated & graceful man. This is an improving story from Boccaccio's ' Decameron' (5: ...