Saint Romuald

By the middle of the 17th century Venice had drawn in painters from across the Alps, and one of the most successful was a German, Johann Carl Loth, known in Italy simply as Carlotto. This is an early Venetian work of his, a study of Saint Romuald, the hermit who founded the Camaldolese order of monks. Loth gives him almost nothing to hold but a skull, the reminder of death that hermits kept beside them. The old man sits in three-quarter profile, one hand raised and held still, caught in thought. Nearly everything is dark except the white of his tunic, which Loth built up in thick, bright strokes so it seems to carry its own light. It is a calmer picture than the harsh, shadowed manner he would become known for once the 1660s arrived. The painting reached the Accademia in 1850, having passed under several other names before scholars settled on his.