Portrait of a Gentleman in his Study (detail)

This painting is one of the finest of a group of ambitiously composed portraits painted during Lotto’s principal Venetian period, in the years following his return from Bergamo. The central work in the group is the portrait of Andrea Odoni (1527), other major examples include Man with a Golden Paw (c. 1527) and Portrait of a Lady as Lucretia (1530-32). All of these portraits share the characteristics of a broad (rather than vertical) format, three-quarter-length pose, and circumstantially described surroundings filled with objects that appear to carry a symbolical significance.