Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome, Peter, Clare and Francis 1505

Curator: Here we have Lorenzo Lotto's "Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome, Peter, Clare and Francis," an oil painting dating from around 1505. It resides here at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. Editor: The gathering of figures really dominates the foreground. There’s almost a press of bodies surrounding the Madonna and Child that creates a kind of… tension, I suppose? The earthy tones feel quite different from some of the ethereal treatments you see of this subject. Curator: It is interesting to consider Lotto’s choices in light of the period's artistic norms. Lotto operated somewhat outside the major artistic centers. Perhaps his geographical remove allowed him a certain freedom. I wonder about the patron and their expectations in commissioning a piece such as this. Editor: Look at St. Francis’s robe – the detail is incredible. And beyond the more immediate impressions of colour and form, I see this repeated hand gesture across figures of contemplation, and of… reception? Clare’s hand gesture definitely arrests me. Is it supplication? Welcome? Curator: It's certainly open to interpretation, but in the context of Renaissance iconography, the gesture of the hand is very purposeful and the setting of this painting is also telling. Saints, in their respective attire. Is this to ground them? Or make the work seem familiar and contemporary to audiences of the day. Editor: I find this setting really striking; these are almost individual character portraits arranged together in a line that creates, well, a single space with, if not disparate subjects, individuals each engaged in their own spiritual world. Look to the very background. The setting seems secular almost… not at all what I imagine to find accompanying holy figures, in any case! Curator: You’re quite right. Lotto was seemingly always challenging accepted convention. Even later in his life as a lay brother, his individuality shone. It is a fascinating piece, the way the figures interact, the tension between the real and the ideal. Editor: I will have to give it another look to take it all in. It's fascinating how this piece marries this beautiful stillness and sense of devotional life, with a surprisingly naturalistic almost "earthy" quality.