National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth-Century Italian Paintings Volume II2008

This highly anticipated catalogue of sixteenth-century paintings from the distinguished collection of the National Gallery in London encompasses artists who were active in Bergamo, Brescia, and Cremona, cities characterized as much by the artistic interaction between them as by the influence of Venice. The artists include such well-known names as Lorenzo Lotto, Moretto, and Moroni, along with less familiar ones such as Bartolomeo Veneto and Callisto Piazza. For each of the paintings, distinguished scholar and curator Nicholas Penny provides information about technique and materials, conservation and condition, and subject and iconography. An account of the painting's original patronage is followed by a discussion of changing tastes, interpretation, and how the picture was esteemed (or neglected) over the centuries. One third of the paintings catalogued here are portraits, and entries include fascinating sections on contemporary dress, furnishings, and accessories. An appendix provides an illuminating account of some of the great collectors and collections of the past.