dominant influence is that of GIOTTO. His earliest dated
work, the Madonna and Child (1319) at Vico l’Abate, near
Florence, illustrates this influence and also that of the
contemporary sculptor Giovanni PISANO. His most impor-
tant works are the frescoes of Good and Bad Government in
the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena (1337–39). Those repre-
senting good government in the town and in the country
are noted respectively for the unusually accurate perspec-
tive for that time and for the exceptionally evocative rep-
resentation of a landscape. Ambrogio’s Presentation in the
Temple (1342; Uffizi, Florence) again illustrates a realism
and use of perspective considered to be 100 years ahead of
their time. Other important panel paintings are scenes
from the legend of St. Nicholas of Bari (1327–32; Uffizi)
and Madonnas and an Annunciation (1344) in the Pina-
coteca in Siena. It is thought that Ambrogio may have died
in the plague of 1348.
Lorenzetti, Pietro (fl. 1305–1345) Italian painter
Like his brother Ambrogio LORENZETTI, Pietro was Sienese
born and was influenced by the schools of both Siena and
Florence. His work was similarly concerned with emo-
tional expression and realism of form. His earliest dated
painting, the polyptych in the parish church (Pieve) at
Arezzo (1320), shows an already mature style but more in-
fluenced by DUCCIOthan Ambrogio’s works are. Of his
frescoes those at the lower church of San Francesco, As-
sisi, are the most important, illustrating the influence of
GIOTTOin their expressive simplicity. Among his paintings
the altarpiece from the Carmine in Siena (1329) and The
Birth of the Virgin (1342), both in the Museo dell’ Opera,
Siena, are the best known and demonstrate his narrative
power.
Lorenzo Monaco (c. 1370–c. 1425) Italian artist
A native of Siena, Lorenzo settled in Florence where he
entered the monastery of Sta. Maria degli Angeli (1391).
His early works were influenced by Agnolo GADDIand in-
clude several altarpieces, notably two versions of the Coro-
nation of the Virgin (1414), one in the Uffizi, Florence, and
the other in the National Gallery, London. The decorative
and naturalistic style of his early works was replaced in his
mature paintings by the International Gothic approach of
such artists as Lorenzo Ghiberti, as seen in the massive
frescoes Life of the Virgin (1420–22; Bartolini chapel, Sta.
Trinità, Florence) and the Adoration of the Magi (c. 1422;
Uffizi), which was one of his best works. Lorenzo was also
known as a painter of miniatures, but no such works can
be attributed to him with certainty.
Lorenzo Veneziano (active 1356–1379) Italian painter
The leading Venetian painter in the latter part of the 14th
century, Lorenzo may have been a pupil of Paolo
Veneziano (died c. 1360). His own work was Gothic in
style and comprises a number of polyptychs such as those
in the Duomo at Vicenza (1356), the Accademia, Venice
(1357), and San Giacomo Maggiore, Bologna (1368).
Other works are preserved in the Museo Civico, Padua,
and the Museo Correr, Venice.Loris, Heinrich See GLAREANUS, HENRICUSLotto, Lorenzo (c. 1480–1556) Italian painter
He trained in the studio of Giovanni BELLINI, probably
alongside GIORGIONEand TITIAN, and later under Alvise
VIVARINIin his native Venice. From 1508 to 1512 Lotto
was in Rome, but although he is known to have been em-
ployed in the Vatican there is no surviving record of his
work there. After leaving Rome he spent most of his life in
Bergamo, where his principal frescoes were done, and in
Venice and neighboring towns, where many churches con-
tain altarpieces by him. He also worked in Ancona. His
pictures reveal a wide variety of influences during this pe-
riod but always retain a very personal character. His por-
traits, for example, though derived from Titian, are more
direct and show a penetrating and highly individual in-
sight into character, as in his portrait of a young man
against a white background (c. 1505; Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna). Lack of material success is suggested
by his account book, which he kept from 1538 onwards.
In 1552 he settled in the monastery of the Sta. Casa in
Loreto and became a lay brother in 1554.Louis XII (1462–1515) King of France (1498–1515)
Louis, who was duke of Orleans from 1465, first married
(1476) Louis XI’s saintly but disabled daughter Jeanne. He
was imprisoned for rebellion in 1488, but was reconciled
to CHARLES VIIIthree years later. On his accession Louis
agreed to support Pope ALEXANDER VI’s son, Cesare BOR-
GIA, in Romagna in exchange for the annulment of his
marriage to Jeanne. He then married (1499) Anne of Brit-
tany, widow of Charles VIII.
In Italy Louis pursued the claim to Naples inherited
from Charles and the claim to Milan via his VISCONTI
grandmother. He captured Milan and ruled there from
1500 to 1512. Then, in cooperation with FERDINAND IIof
Aragon and Castile, he conquered and partitioned Naples
(1501–02), but the Spaniards later drove the French out
(1504). France joined the anti-Venetian League of CAM-
BRAI(1508), but quarreled with its allies who then formed
the HOLY LEAGUEagainst it (1511). The Swiss then drove
the French out of Italy and invaded Burgundy, Spain took
southern Navarre, and HENRY VIII invaded northern
France. Peace with Henry and Louis’s marriage to Henry’s
sister Mary (1514) partly retrieved the situation.
Although his Italian ventures caused France severe fi-
nancial problems, Louis was popular. Internal peace, low
taxation, judicial reforms, and measures protecting the
poor from oppression earned him the title “the father of
the people.”LLoouuiiss XXIIII 2 28877