Eastern Carpet Meets Western Canvas

Portrait of Giovanni della Volta With His Wife and Children, 1547, by Lorenzo Lotto. Public Domain

Eastern carpets and European paintings have an interwoven history. During the Renaissance, imported carpets, particularly from the Turkish region of Anatolia, were featured in devotional paintings and portraits. These exotic and expensive textiles served to emphasize a person’s wealth, worldliness, and status. They also added color and pattern to a composition.

The head of Christie’s Oriental Rugs & Carpets department, Louise Broadhurst, notes that there are over 400 portrayals of Anatolian carpets in Renaissance paintings, and that these artworks are important historical records as few physical carpets from the period have survived. Some artists favored specific styles of carpet, and many are still named after these painters. Examples include carpets termed “Holbein,” “Ghirlandaio,” “Bellini,” and “Lotto.”

‘Lotto’ Carpets

"Lotto" carpets are characterized by yellow arabesque motifs on a red background. "Lotto" Carpet, circa 1600, attributed to Turkey. Wool; 121 1/4 inches by 69 1/4 inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Public Domain

The 16th-century Venetian artist Lorenzo Lotto (circa 1480–1556/7) was a prolific and innovative painter, specializing in altarpieces, religious scenes, and portraits. His reputation as a unique portraitist comes from his ability to communicate the inner thoughts of his subjects along with his sophisticated use of symbolism.

The 1547 Lotto painting “Portrait of Giovanni della Volta with his Wife and Children” at London’s National Gallery is a fascinating work in terms of objects. Included in the family portrait is a “Lotto” carpet, characterized by yellow arabesque motifs on a red background. It is the only known picture by Lotto of a married couple alongside two children, a rare representation for its time.

A presumed self-portrait, 1540s, attributed to Lorenzo Lotto. Oil on panel; 16 9/10 inches by 13 7/10 inches. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain. Public Domain

Lotto was born in Venice, where he was exposed to the work of the great Giovanni Bellini and Albrecht Dürer. These artists, along with Raphael, with whom he worked at the Vatican, greatly influenced him. Later, Lotto developed his own idiosyncratic style: His highly detailed artworks typically feature rich saturated colors and bold shadows, and their tone can range from poetic to playful. Contemporaries such as Giorgione and Titian outshone him in his time, and art historians began to reconsider his oeuvre in the late 19th century. It was only in the 1980s that scholarly interest in and appreciation of his individualistic viewpoint became heightened.

Lotto paid particular attention to the illustration of objects and their cultural significance, frequently reusing materials and their portrayal in his portraits and religious pictures. Anatolian carpets feature in a number of his works, and it is known that he once had to pawn his rug for three ducats. Indeed, he faced financial hardship in his peripatetic career. It is believed that “Portrait of Giovanni della Volta with his Wife and Children” was painted in lieu of rent, as his account book notes that he gave the picture on Sept. 23, 1547 to della Volta, his landlord. There is no earlier example in Venetian art history of a marital double portrait.

Portrait of Giovanni della Volta With His Wife and Children

"Portrait of Giovanni della Volta With His Wife and Children," 1547, by Lorenzo Lotto. Oil on canvas: 41 inches by 45 3/10 inches. National Gallery, London. Public Domain

The painting shows della Volta, his wife, daughter, and son around a table covered by a “Lotto” carpet. As carpets were costly, they were regularly used as a table covering instead of being placed on the floor. A silver bowl on the table that reflects the carpet’s pattern is filled with cherries. The little girl also sits on the table, and she transfers fruit from the bowl to her mother’s hand. Behind this central vignette is a window view that shows a barren Venetian landscape; it is unknown whether the artist attached a symbolic meaning to the vista.

Lotto positions the woman in an unusual way, placing her on her husband’s right, which was considered the location of honor. She poses with her right hand on her hip. This may reference a painting by Lotto’s contemporary Paris Bordone, whose “Portrait of a Young Woman” also shows a female dressed in a gown of deep rose with crumpled sleeves. This picture is dated to 1545–1550, so it remains unclear which canvas was painted first.

"Portrait of a Young Woman," circa 1545, by Paris Bordone. Oil on canvas; 39 7/10 inches by 32 2/5 inches. National Gallery, London. Public Domain

The lively young boy in Lotto’s painting is set on the other side of the table alongside his father. Standing on one leg and wearing transparent blue cloth, he reaches up to grab a pair of cherries suspended from della Volta’s hand. The National Gallery writes, “His strange, semi-nude appearance may have symbolic significance, perhaps to emphasise his status as first-born male and thus heir.” Scholars have suggested possible references for this pose, including inspiration from Titian’s 1542 “Portrait of Clarice Strozzi.” A relief of dancing toddlers on the lower right of this canvas looks similar to Lotto’s boy.

"Portrait of Clarissa Strozzi" with a detailed image of the relief's dancing toddlers, 1542, by Titian. Oil on canvas; 45 1/5 inches by 38 1/2 inches. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. Public Domain

Italian artists began portraying Anatolian carpets in the 14th century, but Marco Polo had already noted in the 1270s that the most beautiful carpets were created in “Turkomania.” Trade bought carpets woven throughout Anatolia to Venice and beyond. The “Lotto” type of carpet is estimated to have originated before 1500, and it remained a popular export to Europe through the 18th century.

Early examples of Lotto carpets, including the one in “Portrait of Giovanni della Volta With His Wife and Children,” include pseudo-calligraphic designs on its borders. The Metropolitan Museum of Art explains that these decorative schemes “derive from a rectilinear form of Arabic script known as kufic.”

A 'Lotto' carpet fragment with a closeup of it's kufic design, 15th–early 16th century, possibly from Turkey. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Public Domain

"Family Portrait," 1523–1524, by Lorenzo Lotto. Oil on canvas; 37 4/5 inches by 45 3/5 inches. Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Public Domain

Other important paintings by Lotto feature his carpet, including a double portrait of a husband and wife painted in Bergamo, which now resides at The State Hermitage Museum, and an altarpiece in a Venetian church. The universal social standing conferred by a “Lotto” carpet made it a popular feature in Dutch and Flemish paintings during the 16th and 17th centuries. Over 60 years after Lotto’s death, a painting attributed to Dutch master Salomon Mesdach of a wealthy merchant’s heir prominently features his carpet as a table covering.

A portrait of Peter Courten, 1617, attributed to Salomon Mesdach. Oil on panel; 75 1/2 inches by 42 inches. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public Domain

The importance of textiles in art and society is exemplified in Lotto’s “Portrait of Giovanni della Volta With His Wife and Children.” Scholars know from studying the artist’s account book entry that the picture was originally protected by a fabric cover, now lost, that may have been decorated. The “Lotto” carpet is one of the portrait’s focal points. Studying artworks such as this alongside surviving period carpets enhances the viewing experience of both.

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