La Vierge à l'Enfant avec le jeune saint Jean-Baptiste et saint Pierre Martyr

This is the earliest work Lotto signed and dated, made in 1503 when he was still a young painter working in Treviso, on the Venetian mainland. His patron there was Bernardo de' Rossi, the local bishop, and one reason the picture may exist is grim. De' Rossi had survived a plot to poison him, and paintings like this were often given as thank-offerings for a life spared. Look at the group and something is slightly crowded on the left. Lotto first painted the bishop himself kneeling in prayer before the Virgin. Later in the century that portrait was removed and the young John the Baptist put in his place. Saint Peter Martyr stands beside them, a fitting witness, since he too was killed for his faith, with the blade still shown lodged in his skull.