Portrait of a man 

Lorenzo Lotto painted this oil on canvas portrait in Italy around the early sixteenth century. Lotto was working in Venice and the surrounding regions at a time when portraiture served the needs of the upper classes, projecting their power and status. But notice the sitter’s intense gaze and somewhat disheveled appearance; the very opposite of the polished and idealized faces that were in vogue. It's clear that Lotto aimed for a different kind of representation. The art market, or the kinds of people that paintings were made for, was changing. While artists still needed wealthy patrons, there was also a growing market for art among the merchant classes. Patrons were beginning to ask for paintings that showed personality and emotion. Lotto was one of the first painters to respond to these shifting cultural currents. To understand Lotto better, we need to look at his letters and contracts, as well as the writings of his contemporaries, to see how the public role of art was changing during the Italian Renaissance.