Man and two courtesans

Man and two courtesans This painting from the castle collection depicts a genre scene – a man and two women in an intimate love setting – one is hugging the man, embracing him, the other, shown from behind, is holding her hand on a partly uncovered breast of her companion. The scene plays out in an interior (columns visible), it is lit from the top right corner of the painting; the light impinges on the three figures in the foreground. On the reverse, there is a description in black ink ”Xięcia Henryka własność Izabella Lubomirska”, indicating that the painting belonging to the duchess Lubomirska, wife to marshal Lubomirski (the last owner of the castle from the Lubomirscy family) was given by her to her adoptive son, Henryk Lubomirski. The painting stems from the end of the 17th/ beginning of the 18th centuries, and is most likely a copy of an original by Lorenzo Lotto (b. ca. 1480 in Venice, d. in 1556 in Loreto); he was an Italian painter and drawing artist active in late Renaissance. Little is known about his youth and studying, he most likely learned under Giovanni Bellini in Venice. He frequently changed places of residence, finally settling in Loreto in 1552. For over 300 years he remained completely forgotten, and was rediscovered as a painter in the 19th century, when he started to be appreciated. He painted altar pieces, religious scenes, allegories and portraits, he frequently depicted the Sacra conversazione, or the Holy Family surrounded by saints. In his portraits he depicted the psychological mood of the model. In the beginning he was influenced by Bellini and Giorgione, and later developed his own style characterised by strong expression, atypical colour sets and strong light contrasts. He also worked for churches, painting frescos concerning the lives of saints.