WASHINGTON, DC.- In the first exhibition dedicated to Venetian Renaissance sculptor Tullio Lombardo (c. 1455–1532), his romantic approach to portraiture is revealed in four of his greatest marble carvings, which are joined by eight related works from his closest circle. On view at the National Gallery of Art's Italian galleries in the West Building from July 4 through November 1, 2009, An Antiquity of Imagination: Tullio Lombardo and Venetian High Renaissance Sculpture celebrates the artist's pioneering talent. Although groundbreaking, Tullio's double-portrait busts drew on various ancient sources, including Roman funerary reliefs and cameo portraits, and expressive figures from the Hellenistic Greek world, with supple flesh and parted lips. In addition, Tullio seems to have been aware of northern European double portraits in painting and prints. http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/lombardoinfo.shtm http://www.wga.hu/index1.html