Biography

Palma specialised in pictures that were destined for a domestic context, such as female beauties and reclining nudes, and scenes of Holy Families with Saints in a landscape. He also painted a number of altarpieces for churches in Venice, the Veneto and his native Lombardy. With Giorgione and Titian, Palma was one of the most innovative and original painters in early sixteenth-century Venice. His mature style did not undergo any significant changes, which makes most of his work difficult to date with any certainty. The nickname Palma Vecchio (Old Parma) was bestowed years after his death to distinguish him from his great-nephew Palma Giovane (Young Palma), who was working in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century.