The Art Collector in Early Modern Italy
Andrea Odoni and his Venetian Palace

Discusses Andrea Odoni, an unexpected art collector who is portrayed in one of the most famous portraits in Renaissance art.

Monika Schmitter (Author)

9781108844086, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 September 2021

340 pages
28.7 x 22.2 x 2.2 cm, 1.23 kg

'Rich in primary sources and well-illustrated, Schmitter's study … is invaluable in its coverage of the uniqueness of the surviving records and works: it provides a whole picture of a collector, the architectural spaces of his palace, and the range of materials and works on display.' Leah R. Clark, Journal of the History of Collections

Lorenzo Lotto's Portrait of Andrea Odoni is one of the most famous paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Son of an immigrant and a member of the non-noble citizen class, Odoni understood how the power of art could make a name for himself and his family in his adopted homeland. Far from emulating Venetian patricians, however, he set himself apart through the works he collected and the way he displayed them. In this book, Monika Schmitter imaginatively reconstructs Odoni's house – essentially a 'portrait' of Odoni through his surroundings and possessions. Schmitter's detailed analysis of Odoni's life and portrait reveals how sixteenth-century individuals drew on contemporary ideas about spirituality, history, and science to forge their own theories about the power of things and the agency of object. She shows how Lotto's painting served as a meta-commentary on the practice of collecting and on the ability of material things to transform the self.

1. Venice in transition
2. Second generation venetian
3. Odoni's facade
4. Creating Rome in Venice: the Antigaia
5. The Portego
6. The Camere
7. Transmuting the self: Lotto's Portrait of Odoni.

Subject Areas: European history [HBJD], Renaissance art [ACND], History of art & design styles: c 1400 to c 1600 [ACN]