Lorenzo Lotto's Masterpiece Returns to Venice for Landmark Exhibition

Lorenzo Lotto's 'Sacra Conversazione con i santi Caterina e Tommaso' (1526-1528) is on view at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice until January 17, 2021. The painting, on loan from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, inaugurates 'Un capolavoro per Venezia', a project by the Gallerie dell’Accademia in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo. The initiative aims to revive international cultural exchanges following Venice's 2019 acqua alta and the pandemic. Future loans include works from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Director Giulio Manieri Elia stated that art can build bridges and foster dialogue. Lotto, a Venetian-born painter active in the early 16th century, often worked outside Venice due to Titian's dominance. His travels included Treviso, the Marche, Rome, and Bergamo. He returned to Venice around 1527, where he painted this work, notable for its naturalistic arrangement of saints around the Madonna and Child.