Lorenzo Lotto painted Brother Gregorio Belo of Vicenza in 1547. The painting depicts Brother Gregorio, a member of the Hieronymites order, who is shown reading the Homilies of Saint Gregory the Great. He presses his fist against his chest in emulation of Saint Jerome, alluding to the penance of Saint Jerome and indicating Brother Gregorio's devotion to the order. In the background is a small depiction of the Crucifixion of Christ.

1. Brother Gregorio
Belo of Vicenza
Artist: Lorenzo Lotto
(Italian, Venice ca. 1480–1556 Loreto)
Date: 1547
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 34 3/8 x 28 in. (87.3 x 71.1 cm)
PRESENTATION BY
NATHANIEL ARON (LEADER),ANTHONY NAPPI,
ANGELINA IZZO, TANG TANG

2. Fra Gregorio, a member of the order of the
Hieronymites, or Poor Hermits of Saint Jerome,
sat for the artist—as noted in his account book—
in December 1546 and the painting was
completed the following year. Lotto knew
members of this order in Venice and in
neighboring Treviso, and was probably in
harmony with their evangelical fervor and ideals.
The friar is in the habit of the order and his
gesture, beating his chest, alludes to Saint
Jerome. He reads the Homilies of Saint Gregory
the Great, probably in the edition published in
Venice in 1543. These would have led him to
meditate on the Crucifixion, shown in the
background in a vignette of deeply-felt emotion

3. The brother makes direct
contact with his audience with
out-of-convergent eyes shadowed
by lowered eyebrows.
With slightly pursed lips
held tightly together,
and his furrowed brow,
this painting clearly portrays
concentration and determination.

4. The man in this portrait is clencing
his right fist, pressing it againt
himself in emulation of Saint
Jerome, whose penance involved
pounding his chest with a rock. As
a member of the order of the
Hieronymites(Poor Hermits of
Saint Jerome), Gregorio opted to
be portrayed with the attributes of
the saint he venerated, taking on
Jerome’s behavior and attire. The
placement of the brightly lit fist on
the horizontal midline of the
picture, along with the high-value
vertical sliver of white sleeve
bordering it, underscores the
centrality of this hand’s action to
the meaning of the painting.

5. Also lying on the composition’s
horizontal midline, Gregorio’s
other hand holds open a small
book, which has been identified
as the brother’s name-saint
Gregory the Great’s Homilies on
the Gospels. The hand is cradled
by the arc created by a sleeve
edge painted with the highest
value pigment on the canvas,
directing the eye to the book
above it.

6. The brother leans on a large
brown-gray stone block on which
is inscribed his name and the
date of the work, an additional
reference to the sitter’s
rock-solid faith and devotion.

7. In the upper left of
the painting there is
the scene of Christ
still nailed to his
cross. Summarily
painted with small
daubs of mostly bright
color, the figures of
Mary, Mary Magdalene
and Saint John the
Baptist participate
in this iconic scene

8. In a valley formed by
outcroppings of bare rock,
dead trees are along each
side of the opened book, a
comment on its contents. By
contrast, trees are elsewhere
in full leaf, and vegetation
covers most of the turf. To
the right of the cross a sapling
bends at an angle parallel to
the head, and light shrubbery
on the crest of the hill just to
the right of his left ear mimics
the tufts of hair on his head,
an example of the humorous
note often discoverable in
Lotto’s pictures.