Madonna col Bambino tra i santi Caterina e Tommaso (1527-1533)

Lotto, Lorenzo (1480-1557)

Madonna col Bambino tra i santi Caterina e Tommaso (Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine and Thomas)
15271533
Oil on canvas, 117 x 152 cm
Kunsthistorisches MuseumVienna

The motif of a gathering of saints around the Madonna, so popular in Venice, was transformed by the generation of Bellini‘s pupils: the strict hierarchical order of the saints was loosened more and more. Lotto played a key role in this development; he was the first to completely integrate the Madonna, who used to always be enthroned, into the surroundings and made this closely intertwined relationship between figure and nature seem mysteriously animated by changing light and shadow. (KHM)