''Saint Nicholas in Glory'' is an altarpiece painting by Italian Renaissance artist

Lorenzo Lotto Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480 – 1556/57) was an Italian Painting, painter, draughtsman, and illustrator, traditionally placed in the Venetian school (art), Venetian school, though much of his career was spent in other north Italian cities. He pain ...

, executed in 1527-1529 and located in the church of

Santa Maria dei Carmini Santa Maria dei Carmini, also called Santa Maria del Carmelo and commonly known simply as the Carmini, is a large Roman Catholic church in the sestiere, or neighbourhood, of Dorsoduro in Venice, northern Italy. It nestles against the former ''Sc ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

History

An inscription at the altar's base reports that the canvas was commissioned in 1527 by the ''guardiano'' (curator of the church) Giovanni Battista Donati and his vicar Giorgio de' Mundis. They chose Nicholas because of their membership in a merchants' brotherhood, which was dedicated to that saint. A frame in

Istrian stone Istrian stone, ''pietra d'Istria'', the characteristic group of building stones in the architecture of Venice, Istria and Dalmatia, is a dense type of impermeable limestones that was quarried in Istria, nowadays Croatia; between Portorož and Pu ...

had already been prepared before the work's execution. This was Lotto's first work after his return to Venice from

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

. Despite several innovative elements (such as the nocturnal landscape in the lower part), the canvas was poorly received by contemporaries. According to contemporary historians, the canvas was completed as early as 1529.

Description

According to a pattern inspired by

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

's prints, Lotto placed St. Nicholas in the upper center, with a luminous halo crowning his face. The saint is looking upwards, suggesting that he is ascending, and is surrounded by three angels who keep his mantle open and hold his traditional symbols: the

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

, the episcopal

crozier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

and three golden balls, in memory of the three maidens saved by Nicholas according to the legend. Below him are

St. John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

(patron of one of the donors) and

St. Lucy Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia ( la, Sancta Lucia) better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, a ...

, whose tooth is alleged to have been preserved in the church as a holy relic. The lower part is occupied by a dark landscape, featuring, amongst other details, a sea harbor and a port struck by a storm. The style of this section shows the influence of the Danube school. The small scene of St. George killing the dragon was added to fulfill one of the donor's wishes.

Sources

* * {{Lorenzo Lotto 1520s paintings Renaissance paintings Paintings by Lorenzo Lotto Paintings of Saint Lucy Paintings depicting John the Baptist Paintings in Venice