The Portrait of Andrea Odoni is a painting by the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 High Renaissance

High Renaissance

The expression High Renaissance, in art history, is a periodizing convention used to denote the apogee of the visual arts in the Italian Renaissance...

 painter Lorenzo Lotto

Lorenzo Lotto

Lorenzo Lotto was a Northern Italian painter draughtsman and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school. He painted mainly altarpieces, religious subjects and portraits...

, dating to 1527. It is housed in the Royal Collection

Royal Collection

The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical...

 of Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, United Kingdom.

History

The work is mentioned in 1532 by Marcantonio Michiel

Marcantonio Michiel

Marcantonio Michiel was a Venetian noble from a family prominent in the service of the State who was interested himself in matters of art...

 as part of Andrea Odoni's collection. It was also seen by the contemporary art biographer Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...

, and it entered the English royal collection in 1660, having been bought at Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

. In the past it has been attributed also to Titian

Titian

Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...

 and Correggio.

The style is typical of Lotto's Venetian period, with denser tones, a softer chromatic range and atmospheric effects at the boundaries.

Description

The horizontal format, which Lotto had already experimented for portraits of couples, in this case was adopted also for a single subject, a Humanist portrayed among his collection of antiques marbles. It has been however supposed that the pieces shown were not real, but, more likely, have a symbolic role alluding to the nature and the virtues of the subject.

The man sits next to a table, with a rich fur-lined jacket, and holds a statuette, which perhaps portrays a Diana of Ephesus

Diana (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...

. The hands touching the chest is a sentimental theme typical of Lotto's works. The tables has also a book and some medals.