Suardi Chapel: Lorenzo Lotto and the end of the world
February 1524. Throughout Italy, people were talking about something like the great flood that was believed to be coming. Astrologers had been foretelling such an event for some time, based on the alignment of the planets. Many people left their homes, seeking refuge in more secure places. Some even predicted the coming of the Anti Christ. Just a few years prior, the German theologian Martin Luther shook the foundations of the Catholic Church when he railed against the corruption that ran rampant in Rome. In response, in his Papal Bull in 1520, Leo X spoke of “barren vines that are not in Christ”. Martin Luther was excommunicated, but he ignored this and continued preaching. Meanwhile, a corrupt and mercenary war continued throughout Italy. Soldiers of fortune ruled the day and, drunk with their new power, did not hesitate to destroy the sacred images they came upon in their campaigns. So, the storm was real, but also symbolic: the world was falling into ruin. In Trescore Balneario, just a few...
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