ACCADEMIA CARRARA, Hall 10

In this room, I suggest you stop to admire the portrait of “Lucina Brembati”, a close-up of a female figure of early-sixteenth-century Bergamo, painted by the great Venetian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto between 1521 and 1523.

The precious jewels she is adorned with exalt the self-esteem of the subject, portrayed in a realistic manner, with an asymmetrical face, heavy chin and sharp expression. The noblewoman is wearing a headdress known as a capigliara, made of fabric, pearls and imitation hair. It was very fashionable at the time because it was always worn by Isabella d’Este, one of the most influential women of the Renaissance.

To discover the name of the noblewoman in the painting, there is a rebus to solve. Look carefully at the moon (luna in Italian) that lights up the night sky: written above it are the letters C and I. If you place these two letters in the middle of luna, it reads LuCIna!

The work I suggest you take a look at is another painting by Lorenzo Lotto: “Nozze mistiche di Santa Caterina” (The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine).

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