Lorenzo “Veneziano” was a leading painter in Venice in the second half of the 1300s. Trained in the Byzantine style by Paolo Veneziano, he later adapted his language to reflect the new Gothic style.

Like so many artists from this period, the only details we have today are obtained from his extant works and the dates on these (from 1356 to 1372).
After having spent a few years in Verona (when he produced the fresco on canvas in the church of Sant’Anastasia in 1356), he returned to Venice to paint the huge Lion Polytypch (1359), now in the Gallerie dell’Accademia. This work is remarkable for the severe static figures in the Byzantine style, much in vogue in Venice and also adopted by Paolo Veneziano, offset by the brightness of the colours and a certain naturalism that is more typically Gothic.

Other major works by Lorenzo are his Christ Arisen in Milan’s Castello Sforzesco and the polyptych now separated and held in the Museo Correr in Venice and the Staatliche Museen in Berlin (the central part – The Handing of the Keys to St. Peter - dated 1370 is in Venice). His later works include a Madonna in the Musee du Louvre (Paris) and the small polyptych in Pinacoteca di Brera (Milan).

1300 - 1400 - - rev. 0.1.6