This portrait of the successful Venetian merchant Andrea Odoni (1488-1545) by Lorenzo Lotto is one of the most innovative and dynamic portraits of the Italian Renaissance. Andrea Odoni holds in one hand a statuette of Diana of Ephesus, symbol of nature, and in the other he holds a cross to his chest. One interpretation of this gesture is that Christianity takes precedence over nature and the pagan gods of antiquity.

Lotto had recently returned to Venice after 13 years in Bergamo when he painted this portrait and he was eager to impress possible patrons. The portrait has been described as one of the most ambitious of all of Lotto's portraits and a deliberate challenge to Titian's supremacy in the field.