An oil painting by Lorenzo Lotto, Madonna with Child between Saints Flavian and Onuphrius, signed and dated 1508, is currently on display at the Borghese Gallery in Rome, Italy.
When Lotto relocated to Rome in the same year as the Recanati Polyptych, the painting was completed (although it is not known if he had already painted it before leaving the Marche). When it was already a part of the Borghese Collection in 1693, it was first mentioned in the document.
Giovanni Bellini and other Venetian painters of the era frequently used the Holy Conversation composition, which places the Madonna and Child in the middle between two saints.
It features a somber Madonna against a dark background. The child, who is quite chubby, is attempting to approach St. Flavian of Ricina, who is depicted on the left. The latter is presenting Jesus with a pierced heart as a picture of his impending suffering.
According to a legend, after Flavian died, his heart opened and revealed the name of Jesus (as mentioned by Lotto with the monogram YHS on it) in golden letters. His identity as Flavian, the patron of the city of Recanati in the Marche, is disputed, and some scholars believe that he was Ignatius of Antioch.
Onuphrius the hermit, whose persona was influenced by Dürer’s painting Christ among the Doctors, which the German artist had executed in Venice in 1506 is shown on the right.
The overall asymmetry of the composition, the vibrant colors, and the drapes—which Lotto had previously painted as torn paper but are now softer and more colored—are additional elements that are reminiscent of Dürer’s artwork.
