Portrait of Febo da Brescia, 1543 - 1544
Lorenzo Lotto - Oil on canvas - cm 82 x 78
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.
