MANTEGNA, Andrea

Between 1490 and 1506, the year he died, Mantegna painted several devotional paintings in which the main figures are represented as reliefs standing out against a mostly dark background. Inspired by reliefs on classical tombs, these figures are shown partially hidden behind stone balustrades or a frame.

The subject of Adoration of the Magi was one of the most popular in all fifteenth-century art, especially for the opportunities it presented for the display of rich costumes and accessories, and of numerous subordinate figures with horses and other animals in an extensive landscape. Mantegna, however, restricts his composition to just six figures - with the three magi on the right converging on the three members of the Holy Family on the left - which he shows in half-length, and hence, too, in powerfully expressive close-up. Four decades earlier, when still working as a young man in Padua, Mantegna had introduced this type of half-length devotional narrative into Italian painting with his Presentation in the Temple.

It was suggested that this painting was executed for Isabella d’Este, the consort of Marquis Francesco Gonzaga.

In 1453 or 1454 Mantegna married Nicolosia Bellini and in so doing allies himself professionally with her brother, Giovanni, to whom he imparts Donatellian ideas. The two London panels depicting the Agony in the Garden by Mantegna and by Bellini respectively define the artistic interdependence of the two brothers-in-law: the technical innovations and organization of the Paduan painter and the pre-eminence of the Venetian in the field of light and colour.

This painting may have been made for private devotional use, a function for which this iconography is appropriate. Mantegna’s signature is inscribed, in Latin, on the rocks.

This panel is from the predella of the San Zeno Polyptych, it was located at the left of the Crucifixion panel. The three original predella panels are now in France (in Paris and Tours), they were appropriated as war booty during the Napoleonic war. In Verona, the predella panels were replaced by canves copies during the 19th century.

The composition of this picture is similar to the version of the same subject in the National Gallery in London. Gethsemane is better described as an orchard than as a garden. An angel is floating on high with the cup that symbolizes the inexorable fate reserved for Christ.

The detail shows Judas who leading the soldiers to Jesus.

Beyond the dead tree Mantegna has attempt to depict Jerusalem in accurate detail. A winding road leads through a rural scene with unrepaired boundary walls, to the main gate. The central temple towering over the rest of the buildings was modelled on the Omar Mosque, which in the Middle Ages was often taken for Solomon’s Temple.

The Assumption of the Virgin, for the most part the work by Mantegna, is on the altar wall of the Ovetari Chapel. Surrounded by angels, Mary floats towards God the Father, who was originally sitting above her in an oval picture. Presumably the empty space surrounded by the Apostles was intended for Mary’s sarcophagus, which Mantegna probably left out because the shape of the apse wall meant that the space available was too narrow.

The Assumption of the Virgin, for the most part the work by Mantegna, is on the altar wall of the Ovetari Chapel. Surrounded by angels, Mary floats towards God the Father, who was originally sitting above her in an oval picture. Presumably the empty space surrounded by the Apostles was intended for Mary’s sarcophagus, which Mantegna probably left out because the shape of the apse wall meant that the space available was too narrow.

Drunkenness, sloth, and depravity are the consequences of the bacchanalia. Even the idealized figure of Bacchus, which may have been copied from the figure of the God Mars on a Roman sarcophagus, raises doubts about his dignity. He is leaning on a horn of plenty and reaching for grape. Bacchus, or Dionysus, the god of fertility and wine, was the model of immoderation, the counterpart to Apollo.

In 1504, Mantegna bought the right to the first chapel on the left in the church of Sant’Andrea in Mantua for setting up his own funerary chapel. With his son Francesco, who was also a painter, he decorated the chapel’s vault with a fictive pergola of garlands that frame the Mantegna family coat-of-arms. He also painted an altarpiece of the Baptism of Christ for his chapel, which today is in a ruined condition.

The painting is still in the chapel. It is to a great extent the work of Mantegna’s workshop and of his son Francesco.

In 1504, Mantegna bought the right to the first chapel on the left in the church of Sant’Andrea in Mantua for setting up his own funerary chapel. With his son Francesco, who was also a painter, he decorated the chapel’s vault with a fictive pergola of garlands that frame the Mantegna family coat-of-arms. He also painted an altarpiece of the Baptism of Christ for his chapel, which today is in a ruined condition.

The painting is still in the chapel. It is to a great extent the work of Mantegna’s workshop and of his son Francesco.

Mantegna made drawings for the master goldsmith Gian Marco Cavalli, expressly so that they might be translated into engravings. Free from existing conventions and the limitations imposed by patrons, Mantegna was able here to give free rein to his imagination, creating bacchic processions and furious battles between sea monsters, in the hope of attracting buyers.

The battle is an allegory on the theme of Invidia (Envy) who is standing top left as an old woman on a sea monster. Neptune is turning away from the scene: he does not want to see the bitter struggle between the sea monsters, not even as a reflection in the mirror. Apparently this scene was based on a classical description of the competition between members of a family of sculptors living on the island of Rhodes. Comparable battle scenes can, however, be seen on classical reliefs that were known through sketch-book drawings; Ludovico III Gonzaga owned such a sketch-book.

The print is made from two plates, printed on separate sheets of paper and joined at the centre. The print is an exercise in wit, the powerful, classical sea gods do battle with bones and knots of fish, hardly capable of defending them, while a standing statue of Neptune, the god of the sea, turns his back on the whole scene.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 12 minutes):

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: The Battle, suite

This engraving can be characterized by blocky volumes conveyed in the torsos with a hard outline and emphasis on planar modeling.

Mantegna painted monumental likenesses that combine the particularity of Eyckian physiognomy with the authority of ancient Roman busts. The portrait of Cardinal Trevisan suggests a statue come to life, a bust animated by light washing over its forceful features. This portrait is one of the landmarks of Italian portraiture.

Cardinal Trevisan was a rich, powerful, and cultured figure who proved his military prowess in the Battle of Anghiari on June 29, 1440, between Milan and the Italian League, where he lead the papal troupes. He became cardinal in the same year.

The ceiling is divided into areas by painted bands and ornamentation, the areas differing in their degrees of realism. The realistic view of the sky in the centre is separated from the modulated gray-gold tones of the ceiling by means of a colourful garland of fruit and leaves around simulated reliefs.

In this detail the last of the twelve tasks of Hercules is represented: the taming of the Cerberus, the guardian of Hades. Next to this, Orpheus is shown playing his lute. ABove these cells the emperors Caesar and Otho are shown.The wall lunettes are decorated with Gonzaga devices, including the spotted salamander and a turtle dove.

In this detail two classical scenes can be seen: the death of the singer Orpheus, and Arion being threatened by pirates as he crosses from Sicily to Corinth. The caissons represent the classical emperors Augustus and Tiberius, while the wall lunette is decorated with a Gonzaga seal with a young doe.

One the most remarkable portions of the decoration of the Camera degli Sposi is the fictive oculus, or opening to the sky, located on the room’s low ceiling. Created with sharp foreshortenings, the oculus is ringed with figures looking down on the room below; a potted plant is precariously perched on its wooden support, seemingly ready to fall at any moment. It is a brilliant tour de force that invariably engages the spectator, who must join in the game by standing directly beneath the circular trellis.

The magnificent details of the ceiling and some of the busts and scenes stand among the most convincing trompe l’oeil passages of the entire Italian Renaissance.

Opening up the room to the sky and painting the figures in extreme foreshortening, as seen from the viewer’s point of view immediately below, were sensational devices in Mantegna’s day. This was the first time a rigorous sotto in sù perspective, that is foreshortened from below, had been painted successfully. This provided a point of departure for the development of ceiling frescoes that was exploited to greatest effect during the Baroque.

One the most remarkable portions of the decoration of the Camera degli Sposi is the fictive oculus, or opening to the sky, located on the room’s low ceiling. Created with sharp foreshortenings, the oculus is ringed with figures looking down on the room below; a potted plant is precariously perched on its wooden support, seemingly ready to fall at any moment. It is a brilliant tour de force that invariably engages the spectator, who must join in the game by standing directly beneath the circular trellis.

The magnificent details of the ceiling and some of the busts and scenes stand among the most convincing trompe l’oeil passages of the entire Italian Renaissance.

Here the viewer looks up towards the figures from a ground-level perspective. The bulging thighs of the putto balancing in front of the balustrade clearly shows that Mantegna has divided up the physical structure of the little putto’s body into cylindrical sections.

The tent-like vaulting of the Camera degli Sposi contains: in the centre the trompe-l’oeil oculus; in the diamond-shaped compartments eight busts of emperors in medallions; in the side vaults scenes from the myths of Orpheus, Arion, and Hercules.

Although painted first, the painting of the ceiling, done in grisaille and imitation gold mosaics, is meant to be the logical continuation of the vertical arrangements of the space. It represents a tent-like roof with pointed vaults above the walls; the painting makes it appear higher than it actually is. Broad groins ornamented with meanders rise up from the painted basket capitals, dividing the ceiling into eight lozenge-shaped fields drawn to sharp points at the bottom, like spandrels. Each lozenge contains a round medallion in which depicted are the first eight Roman emperors. The twelve triangular vaults above the lunettes contain scenes from classical myth and legend, all backed by gold mosaics. First comes three scenes from the Orpheus myth, then three relating to Arion, and finally six depictions of some of the labours of Hercules.

This detail of the ceiling in the Camera degli Sposi represents the Roman Emperor Augustus.

The picture shows the portrait of Julius Caesar in one of the eight medallions supported by caryatids on the vaulting in the Camera degli Sposi (Camera Picta).

In one of the twelve side vaults of the ceiling in the Camera degli Sposi, the scene Hercules with a Bow is depicted.

In one of the twelve side vaults of the ceiling in the Camera degli Sposi, the scene Orpheus Taming Cerberus and a Fury is depicted.

In one of the twelve side vaults of the ceiling in the Camera degli Sposi, the scene Arion and the Sailors is depicted.

Two magnificent marriage chests - cassoni - were produced in Mantegna’s workshop for Paola Gonzaga (1463-1497), daughter of Ludovico Gonzaga. Paola took with her the chests as part of her dowry when she married Count Leonhard of Gorizia in 1477. The brightly painted bas-relief scenes, made after drawings by Mantegna, represent episodes illustrating the legendary fairness of the Roman emperor Trajan. They are set in a triumphal procession including a great crowd of antique figures; in the background is an imaginary city that looks more like contemporary Florence than ancient Rome.

This fragment has been cut down from the upper part of the Death of the Virgin, now in the Prado, Madrid.

This devotional painting, intended for a private apartment, is ascribed to Mantegna’s Roman period. In it Christ displays his wounds as a reminder that he died for us on the Cross. The finely worked sarcophagus on which Christ is leaning is a clear demonstration of Mantegna’s skill. He was in fact commissioned to design the tomb of Barbara of Brandenburg, who died in 1481, but this project was never executed.

According to the inscription, this painting was a gift from Mantegna to an unknown recipient on 5 January 1493, the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany. This head of Christ is a new interpretation of a famous painting by Jan van Eyck that was known in Italy from several copies.

The motif is close-fitting so that Christ’s head now comes very near to the frame. Though he appears as a living being, he seems remote and unapproachable. This is one of the few works of the later period for which we have a date, and which therefore provides a reference point for other works.

Between 1490 and 1506, the year he died, Mantegna painted several devotional paintings in which the main figures are represented as reliefs standing out against a mostly dark background. Inspired by reliefs on classical tombs, these figures are shown partially hidden behind stone balustrades or a frame. The present painting belongs to this group.

The iconography of this painting is unusual, though used by Mantegna more tan once. Portraying the Child Christ as the ruler of the world, Imperator Mundi, was less current in Italy than in Germany, and showing the Madonna sewing is very unusual. By working with her hands, Mary is demonstrating that she is God’s humble handmaiden. This portrayal was presumably not based on one of Mantegna’s own designs.

The painting formed the central panel of the predella of the San Zeno Polyptych. The three original predella panels are now in France (in Paris and Tours), they were appropriated as war booty during the Napoleonic war. In Verona, the predella panels were replaced by canvas copies during the 19th century.

The scene takes place on a cracked rocky plateau on Golgotha. The place of execution is marked by holes in the rock, that had already been used for other crosses. At the foot of Christ’s cross lies the skull of Adam, the first man. According to legend, Adam’s grave was at Calvary and was exposed by the earthquake when Christ died.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 3 minutes):

Guillaume Dufay: Hymn for Easter

This detail of the predella panel shows grieving women.

Mantegna’s first important commission from Ludovico Gonzaga was the decoration of the chapel in Castello di San Giorgio, executed in the first half of the 1460s. It is unfortunately impossible to reconstruct the whole of Mantegna’s original intentions there with any confidence, although some panels almost certainly traceable to the chapel still survive. They include the Death of the Virgin in Madrid.

In a room framed by sombre pilasters, but looking out on to a view of the lake of Mantua, the Apostles gather round the dying Virgin. The skilfully constructed perspective is perfectly co-ordinated with the precisely drawn and coloured figures. The overall effect is severe, but its dignity is also vivid and moving. This is justly regarded as a masterpiece of the early Renaissance, with its detailed naturalism, radiant clarity and unshaken conviction.

In a room framed by sombre pilasters, but looking out on to a view of the lake of Mantua, the Apostles gather round the dying Virgin.

The story of Christ’s descent into Limbo does not appear in the Bible, but in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, and also in the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus da Voragine. Limbo is a neutral zone of Hell where the souls of the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets reside. They are not damned, but cannot ascend into heaven until the coming of Christ. Thus, to the left in Mantegna’s painting we have the first human couple, Adam and Eve, the two who, through Original Sin begin the story of Christ’s Passion.

The composition seems crowded, largely because the upper and left-hand edges have been cut. Christ bends towards one of the patriarchs emerging from the depth of Hell and whose cloak, caught by the wind, surrounds him like a halo. He turns his face and hands towards Christ. The emotional tension of the scene culminates in dialogue between these two figures.

Mantegna painted several versions of this theme, however, for the most part these works are now available, if at all, only as drawings or engravings.

Between 1490 and 1506, the year he died, Mantegna painted several devotional paintings in which the main figures are represented as reliefs standing out against a mostly dark background. Inspired by reliefs on classical tombs, these figures are shown partially hidden behind stone balustrades or a frame. The most impressive of the paintings from Mantegna’s final years include the Ecce Homo in the Mus�e Jacquemart-Andr�, Paris, and the St Sebastian in the Ca’ d’Oro, Venice.

In the Ecce Homo, the portrayal of the flagellated Christ combines the timeless devotional image with a historic reference to a real event. The figure of Christ is displayed covered in weals from the flagellation, and with the crown of thorns on his head. Of the two men holding him, one is wearing a paper headband with an inscription in pseudo-Hebrew. Two other figures are barely visible in the background. The unfolded sheet of paper in the top corner bears the proclamation of the crucifixion.

This sheet has been reduced to the extent of having virtually no space around the figure. Nevertheless, the powerfully sculptural form projects from the sheet with expressive animation. The commanding frontal presentation of the sitter lends the portrait a dramatic expressiveness unsurpassed in drawn portraiture.

The picture shows the painted pilaster with the artist’s self-portrait.

The detail of the west wall shows a grotesque self-portrai of the artist.

Hidden in the foliate decor of one of the room’s painted pilasters, right next to the painted plaque above the door containing the painter’s dedication of the work, is a face that has been commonly identified as the artist’s self-portrait. Its resemblance to the bronze portrait bust from roughly 1490 in the church of Sant’Andrea in Mantua, is unmistakable, even though this painted likeness does not wear the arrogant and somewhat surly expression that his contemporaries tell us was characteristic of the artist.

Mantegna left behind in the Camera degli Sposi not only his name, but also a self-portrait, which appears on the last wall to be painted. It is hidden away among the grotesques decorating the pillars. The artist is shown not as a member of the court, but as a silent observer of both them and the viewer.

Between 1490 and 1506, the year he died, Mantegna painted several devotional paintings in which the main figures are represented as reliefs standing out against a mostly dark background. Inspired by reliefs on classical tombs, these figures are shown partially hidden behind stone balustrades or a frame.

The composition of the painting is clearly reminiscent of Antique reliefs, which use the same strict arrangement of figures in a row, with the heads all on the same level. The body of the Infant Christ standing on the lap of the Mother of God stands out with great plasticity from the dark background. The stern faces on the edge of the picture, Joseph to the left and Elizabeth to the right, resemble realistic Roman character busts, while Mary and the child show in their gracefulness a kinship to the Florentine reliefs of the early Renaissance, such as those by Luca delta Robbia. The young John the Baptist in the lower right corner is shown with his mouth open, as if in speech, and pointing up at Jesus. His gaze directed at the viewer, his gesture, and the banderole with the legend ‘Ecce Agnus Dei’ (Behold the Lamb of God) all point to his role as the forerunner of Jesus. The twig in the form of the cross can be seen as a symbol of Christ’s later crucifixion, by which he takes away the sins of the world, according to the next lines of the Agnus Dei.

The reminiscences of Antiquity in this painting show Mantegna’s importance for the development of the art of the High Renaissance. The majority of commentators regard this as a late work and date it to the end of the fifteenth century.

Because Mantegna’s play of realities in the Camera degli Sposi is so convincing, the distinction between the physical, real world and the fictive, painted one is unclear. Although most apparent on the ceiling, this aspect of the decoration is continued in the wall zones. For example, the tablet containing a beautifully lettered inscription appears to be held by flying putti, who struggle to support its weight. Nearby, a trompe l’oeil twisted leather curtain, similar to those actually used at the time, is featured prominently.

Because Mantegna’s play of realities in the Camera degli Sposi is so convincing, the distinction between the physical, real world and the fictive, painted one is unclear. Although most apparent on the ceiling, this aspect of the decoration is continued in the wall zones. For example, the tablet containing a beautifully lettered inscription appears to be held by flying putti, who struggle to support its weight. Nearby, a trompe l’oeil twisted leather curtain, similar to those actually used at the time, is featured prominently.

Because Mantegna’s play of realities in the Camera degli Sposi is so convincing, the distinction between the physical, real world and the fictive, painted one is unclear. Although most apparent on the ceiling, this aspect of the decoration is continued in the wall zones. For example, the tablet containing a beautifully lettered inscription appears to be held by flying putti, who struggle to support its weight. Nearby, a trompe l’oeil twisted leather curtain, similar to those actually used at the time, is featured prominently.

From 1490 onwards, Mantegna produced a series of illusionistic works representing sculptural reliefs in marble or bronze. These are in grisaille, light and dark tones of a single colour creating figures that stand against a background simulating boldly patterned marble. In Italy, pictures like this, which appear to be carved in stone, were first seen in the bases of Giotto’s frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua, where he illustrated the seven Virtues and seven Vices. At the end of the 15th century, grisaille work was in great demand, and Mantegna painted a number of pictures in this technique.

The present painting was one of a series of four long, narrow paintings ordered from Mantegna by Francesco Cornaro at the beginning of 1505. Mantegna was able to complete only this painting before his death. However, sketches for the others still exist and the rest of the series was completed on this basis, in Venice; among these is the Continence of Scipio by Giovanni Bellini.

At the end of the second Punic War, a Sybilline oracle predicted that a Roman victory would be hastened if they brought the foreign goddess Cybele to Rome. So in 204 BC, the Roman Senate decided that as the most distinguished of all the Romans, the still youthful patrician Publius Cornelius Scipio (235-183 BC) should receive the goddess and give her shelter in his house until a temple had been built.

From the left of the painting the priests in their flowing robes are approaching with a bust of Cybele. A young follower falls on his knees in reverence, his position in the centre of the picture emphasizing the unusually wide format of this work. Scipio leads out the group of Romans who have been awaiting the arrival of this image of the goddess, which has been brought fromAsia Minor.

At the end of the second Punic War, a Sybilline oracle predicted that a Roman victory would be hastened if they brought the foreign goddess Cybele to Rome. So in 204 BC, the Roman Senate decided that as the most distinguished of all the Romans, the still youthful patrician Publius Cornelius Scipio (235-183 BC) should receive the goddess and give her shelter in his house until a temple had been built.

From the left of the painting the priests in their flowing robes are approaching with a bust of Cybele.

At the end of the second Punic War, a Sybilline oracle predicted that a Roman victory would be hastened if they brought the foreign goddess Cybele to Rome. So in 204 BC, the Roman Senate decided that as the most distinguished of all the Romans, the still youthful patrician Publius Cornelius Scipio (235-183 BC) should receive the goddess and give her shelter in his house until a temple had been built.

On the right of the painting a private house is depicted, on the steps of which a musician in oriental dress is standing, playing a pipe and a drum. A band attached to his ruff bears the letters SPQR, the Latin abbreviation for the Roman senate. The trumpet of a second musician is projecting from the entrance to the house, a compositional device indicating that the action is continuing beyond the picture frame.

On the right of the painting a private house is depicted, on the steps of which a musician in oriental dress is standing, playing a pipe and a drum. A band attached to his ruff bears the letters SPQR, the Latin abbreviation for the Roman senate. The trumpet of a second musician is projecting from the entrance to the house, a compositional device indicating that the action is continuing beyond the picture frame.

Once owned by King Charles I of England, this painting illustrates an episode from the Old Testament which relates how the Israelite Judith by guile killed the Assyrian general Holofernes and thus saved her beleaguered city. Painted with minute detail, Judith and her handmaiden finish their deed with tragic calm.

Among Mantegna’s works there are several representations of Judith that, without exception, show a comparatively peaceful scene in which Judith is placing the severed head of Holofernes in a bag. During the Baroque, in contrast, the dramatic central moment of the action was preferred, as Judith, often with great effort, decapitates Holofernes.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 17 minutes):

Alessandro Scarlatti: La Giuditta, oratorio, Part I (excerpts)

During the Renaissance, the great biblical figures were also counted among the heroes and heroines of antiquity. Judith, the pious and beautiful widow from the besieged town of Bethulia, an outpost of Jerusalem, saved the city by outwitting Holofernes, Nebuchadnezzar’s military commander. Having charmed him and made him drunk, she cut off his head. The leaderless Assyrians fled when they saw the bloody head hanging on the city walls the next morning.

The Madonna of Victory was commissioned by Francesco II Gonzaga To celebrate his victory over the French at Fornovo on 6 July 1495. On the first anniversary of the battle the altarpiece was installed with great ceremony over the high altar in the chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Mantua.

By the end of the 15th century, large single paintings were being used as altarpieces, a form that reached its apogee in the works of Titian and Veronese. The stiffly hierarchical composition of the traditional Sacra Conversazione was also discarded.

Mantegna’s Mary is turning slightly away from the central axis, which runs from the Tree of Knowledge on the throne pedestal up through the Christ Child to the branch of coral hanging on a chain. Mary and the idealized, over life-size figures of the saints Michael and George form a majestic group. Francesco II Gonzaga is depicted kneeling to the left, blessed by the Virgin.

Until 1808 the painting was in the convent of Santa Maria Maggiore, Venice, where Sansovino saw it.

This exquisite painting of the Virgin set against a sky thick with clouds and cherubs shows the influence of Giovanni Bellini’s palette. In fact it was attributed to Bellini until Cavenaghi restored the picture in 1885. As the panel appears to have been cut down on the sides, its original composition is debatable. The painting may have been commissioned by the Duchess of Ferrara; the intensely human face of the Madonna would be suitable in a work intended for private devotion.

This view of the Madonna has the feeling of a fragment. She is set dramatically against a rocky backdrop cut off by the edge of the painting. Mary and Child are isolated from what is happening in the rest of the picture and appear to be turned in upon themselves, a reflection of the rapt devotion of those who kneel before this image in pious devotion.

The sculpture of a naked man bound to a tree-trunk with both hands can have both a mythological and a religious meaning. Perhaps it was originally intended to be Marsyas and then reworked as St Sebastian. It is attributed to Andrea Mantegna who was described in contemporary sources as a painter, draughtsman, engraver and sculptor. Stylistically the statue matches Mantegna’s work at the Gonzaga court in Mantua.

The pain-racked features of the figure are described in a naturalistic way.

This fresco was originally a decoration for the lunette over the central entrance to the Santo in Padua, which is why the emblem is supported on the left by one of the saints most revered in that city. On the right, St Bernard is portrayed: it was from his Latin description Iesus Hominum Salvator that the central abbreviation for the name of Christ originated: IHS. As the fresco was heavily restored in the 18th century, it is now barely possible to discern Mantegna’s picture.

This painting was commissioned by Isabella d’Este for her studiolo in the Palazzo Ducale, Mantua where she kept her collection of small luxury objects. Isabella’s court advisor, the poet Paride da Ceresara, devised a program of classical allegories for the room, one of which was awarded to Mantegna. The painting is crammed with anecdotal detail and communicate allegorically rather than historically. The theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity) appear in the cloud in the upper right corner of the painting.

Around 1495 Isabella d’Este planned to have the most famous painters of her time contribute pictures for her studiolo; she was unsuccessful in obtaining pictures from Leonardo (although he drew her portrait) and Giovanni Bellini, but not for want of trying. Mantegna, her court painter, and Lorenzo Costa, Mantegna’s successor, each completed two canvases and Perugino one. Mantegna’s so-called Parnassus, completed by 1497, is one of his finest works, much discussed and admired, although the exact meaning of the allegory remains elusive. As a painter dedicated to the study of antiquity and ancient archaeology, it is fitting that Mantegna should have produced a masterpiece with a classical theme.

In the centre of the painting representing a mythological scene the dancing Muses are easily identifiable, both on account of their number and the presence of the mountains in the top left of the picture. There was a tradition that the song of the nine sisters caused volcanic eruptions and other cataclysms which could only be stopped by Pegasus stamping his hoof - and indeed we see, on the right, the winged and bejewelled horse engaged in his providential pawing of the ground. Beside him is Mercury, whose presence is justified by the protection which he (together with Apollo) afforded the adulteress in the love affair between Mars and Venus. The two lovers hold sway over the scene from the top of Parnassus; a bed is beside them. The cuckolded husband, Vulcan, springs out from the entrance of his forge, fulminating against the faithless pair. Apollo is seated lower down, his lyre in his hands. Mantegna has integrated the landscape elements with the figures, using rocky cliffs as foils, while the central arch permits a deep vista into the rolling landscape.

In this late work Mantegna has maintained a monumental approach to human figures. Stocky and heavy-limbed, they plant their weight solidly in easy contrapposto.

Around 1495 Isabella d’Este planned to have the most famous painters of her time contribute pictures for her studiolo; she was unsuccessful in obtaining pictures from Leonardo (although he drew her portrait) and Giovanni Bellini, but not for want of trying. Mantegna, her court painter, and Lorenzo Costa, Mantegna’s successor, each completed two canvases and Perugino one. Mantegna’s so-called Parnassus, completed by 1497, is one of his finest works, much discussed and admired, although the exact meaning of the allegory remains elusive. As a painter dedicated to the study of antiquity and ancient archaeology, it is fitting that Mantegna should have produced a masterpiece with a classical theme.

In the centre of the painting representing a mythological scene the dancing Muses are easily identifiable, both on account of their number and the presence of the mountains in the top left of the picture. There was a tradition that the song of the nine sisters caused volcanic eruptions and other cataclysms which could only be stopped by Pegasus stamping his hoof - and indeed we see, on the right, the winged and bejewelled horse engaged in his providential pawing of the ground. Beside him is Mercury, whose presence is justified by the protection which he (together with Apollo) afforded the adulteress in the love affair between Mars and Venus. The two lovers hold sway over the scene from the top of Parnassus; a bed is beside them. The cuckolded husband, Vulcan, springs out from the entrance of his forge, fulminating against the faithless pair. Apollo is seated lower down, his lyre in his hands. Mantegna has integrated the landscape elements with the figures, using rocky cliffs as foils, while the central arch permits a deep vista into the rolling landscape.

In this late work Mantegna has maintained a monumental approach to human figures. Stocky and heavy-limbed, they plant their weight solidly in easy contrapposto.

Mercury, the patron of virtue, the god who endows the eloquent with their swift-winged words and inventors and sages with their creative thoughts, is in conversation with Pegasus, the Muses’ winged horse who symbolizes Virtus or Purity. Pegasus has lifted his hoof which, when it struck the ground, created Hyppocrene, the spring of the Muses in the Helicon Mountains in Boetia. It appears in the centre foreground of the painting.

Carlo de’ Medici (¹⁴²⁸⁄₃₀-1492) was Cosimo il Vecchio’s third, illegitimate, son by a Circassian slave, who became a prelate. He mainly collected codices and antiquities which further enriched his father’s collection.

The Gonzaga family turned continuously to Mantegna to paint their portraits, to make pictures that were given as diplomatic gifts, and to decorate the most important areas of their residences. A young member of the family - probably Francesco, the first Gonzaga cardinal - is represented at an age between childhood and adolescence in this small portrait.

During the Quattrocento the standard portrait format was the bust in profile, adopted from classical medallions.

The identity of the sitter is unknown, he was probably a Venetian magistrate. His profile position resembles the portraits found on antique medals and medals made by Pisanello at courts in northern Italy.

Mantegna was the dominant figure of the Paduan school. His severe and precise style combines the Florentines’ direct observation of nature with a subtlety of colour tracable to the influence of his Venetian brother-in-law Giovanni Bellini. Underlying these influences is also a sense of classic monumentality, derived from his close study of antique sculpture.

This sheet is, even after much rubbing and discolouration of the paper, among the most sculptural drawn portraits of the fifteenth century. It is composed with strong, animated strokes and bold shadows. It is very close in character and style to several of the frescoed portraits in the Camera degli Sposi.

The study of a man with black cap is entirely characteristic of Mantegna. (The cap was restored with gray-black wash.) The sheet is badly rubbed and has been reduced on all sides, but the sculptural and expressive resonance of the image is still present and deeply affecting. The technique, with lively parallel chalk strokes, is typical of Mantegna, as is the expressive clarity of both form and psychology.

The picture shows the presumed self-portrait of the artist.

In 1453 or 1454 Mantegna married Nicolosia Bellini and in so doing allies himself professionally with her brother, Giovanni, to whom he imparts Donatellian ideas. The two London panels depicting the Agony in the Garden by Mantegna and Bellini respectively define the artistic interdependence of the two brothers-in-law: the technical innovations and organization of the Paduan painter and the pre-eminence of the Venetian in the field of light and colour.

This is confirmed in the two versions of the Presentation at the Temple: the Berlin painting by Mantegna and the one in Venice by Bellini. Something of Quarcione’s fierce expressiveness is evident in the face of Mantegna’s High Priest (an element which is toned down in the Bellini version), and this, together with the Donatellian facial type of the Christ Child, points to the Paduan origins of both paintings. The foreshortened pose of Mantegna’s Christ Child (less evident in the Venice version) is seen at an angle in relation to the back of the ‘pictorial cube’: by placing the Christ Child on the parapet the artist gives a measure of the space behind while at the same time projecting the Child into our space. This creation of a bridge between the work of art and the spectator is only evident in the Mantegna version. Only the spatial device of the ledge will appear again in Bellini’s work.

Furthermore, in the Berlin Presentation at the Temple the face emerging from the dark to the right of the painting is thought to be a self-portrait of Mantegna. Despite the discrepancies with the known Self-portrait Bust in bronze in Mantegna’s funerary chapel in Mantua, it is difficult to deny that Mantegna has included himself in the Berlin canvas. And, if one accepts that the woman to the far left of the painting is a portrait of his wife it seems plausible that it is connected with the marriage of the painter.

This panel is from the predella of the San Zeno Polyptych, it was located at the right of the Crucifixion panel. The three original predella panels are now in France (in Paris and Tours), they were appropriated as war booty during the Napoleonic war.

In the centre of this painting, the bright apparition of Christ stands out, emphasized by the darkness of the rocky grotto. The faces of the guards show a range of reactions to the miracle of the Resurrection, from a still sleepy figure gazing in front of him to a soldier rising to his feet in amazement.

From 1490 onwards, Mantegna produced a series of illusionistic works representing sculptural reliefs in marble or bronze. These are in grisaille, light and dark tones of a single colour creating figures that stand against a background simulating boldly patterned marble. In Italy, pictures like this, which appear to be carved in stone, were first seen in the bases of Giotto’s frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua, where he illustrated the seven Virtues and seven Vices. At the end of the 15th century, grisaille work was in great demand, and Mantegna painted a number of pictures in this technique, including Samson and Delilah, a small masterpiece from a series illustrating the theme of “women’s wiles.” This was a series of stories that had been retold in images since antiquity, stories that supposedly illustrated women’s cunning.

Samson is the heroic figure with superhuman strength whose story is told in the Old Testament Book of Judges. His wife Delilah was to find the secret of his strength After he told her that the secret lay in his hair, Delilah cut his hair off and the Philistines were able to capture Samson and blind him. The grapevine entwined round the tree is a symbol of Samson’s drunken stupor. The inscription carved in the tree trunk warns that women are more wicked than even the Devil.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 10 minutes):

Camille Saint-Saens: Samson et Delila, Delila’s aria

The work (12 panels) was commissioned in 1453, when the artist was twenty-two years old, for the chapel of S. Luca in the church of S. Giustina, Padua. The figures represented, reading from upper left, are: St Daniel of Padua, St Jerome, the Virgin, Christ, St John, St Augustine, St Sebastian, St Scolastica, St Prosdocimus, St Benedict and St Justina.

The original wooden frame in which Mantegna’s signature had been incised was destroyed by lightning in the seventeenth century. Its loss radically alters the composition, as can be seen by the considerable difference in scale between the two registers. It is thus worth attempting a reconstruction, in order to grasp the meaning of the whole work.

Probably commissioned by the donors to execute a Gothic-type altarpiece, Mantegna must have succeeded in altering the scheme substantially by inserting a thick molding between the two orders. This division set the two ranges much farther apart than they are today. Another device used by the artist to avoid the effect of caged images is the perspective in the centre of the composition whereby the upper panels were made smaller to suggest distance while the lower panels were made larger to imply that they are closer to the spectator. But the most sensational means is the stepped pavement, which must have been the ground plane of the suggested architectural construction. The whole must have made a sort of two-storied loggia, housing figures engaged in a Sacra Conversazione.

Even without its original framework, the separate figures remain highly impressive. A lyric quality, unequalled in Mantegna’s other work, is generated by the illusionistic effect of the figures, achieved by means of their “wet drapery,” which Mantegna must have rediscovered by studying classic Roman sculpture.

The work (12 panels) was commissioned in 1453, when the artist was twenty-two years old, for the chapel of S. Luca in the church of S. Giustina, Padua. The figures represented, reading from upper left, are: St Daniel of Padua, St Jerome, the Virgin, Christ, St John, St Augustine, St Sebastian, St Scolastica, St Prosdocimus, St Benedict and St Justina.

The original wooden frame in which Mantegna’s signature had been incised was destroyed by lightning in the seventeenth century. Its loss radically alters the composition, as can be seen by the considerable difference in scale between the two registers. It is thus worth attempting a reconstruction, in order to grasp the meaning of the whole work.

Probably commissioned by the donors to execute a Gothic-type altarpiece, Mantegna must have succeeded in altering the scheme substantially by inserting a thick molding between the two orders. This division set the two ranges much farther apart than they are today. Another device used by the artist to avoid the effect of caged images is the perspective in the centre of the composition whereby the upper panels were made smaller to suggest distance while the lower panels were made larger to imply that they are closer to the spectator. But the most sensational means is the stepped pavement, which must have been the ground plane of the suggested architectural construction. The whole must have made a sort of two-storied loggia, housing figures engaged in a Sacra Conversazione.

Even without its original framework, the separate figures remain highly impressive. A lyric quality, unequalled in Mantegna’s other work, is generated by the illusionistic effect of the figures, achieved by means of their “wet drapery,” which Mantegna must have rediscovered by studying classic Roman sculpture.

The central panel represents St Luke the Evangelist, enthroned behind a scribe’s desk.

The central panel represents St Luke the Evangelist, enthroned behind a scribe’s desk.

St Luke the Evangelist is enthroned behind a scribe’s desk in such a way that his physical presence almost threatens to break the boundaries of the old-fashioned panel. Above him is a Pietà, a close-knit group representing Christ in His suffering: His narrow, finely proportioned body, still bound the Gothic concept of physicality, lies between Mary and John, who are tending him.

The picture shows a detail of the central (140 x 67 cm) the panel representing St Luke.

Above St Luke is a Pietà, a close-knit group representing Christ in His suffering: His narrow, finely proportioned body, still bound the Gothic concept of physicality, lies between Mary and John, who are tending him.

The picture shows the panel representing St Justina.

For the main altar of the Veronese church of San Zeno, Mantegna produced one of the finest and most influential altarpieces of the period. The altarpiece occupies a privileged position in the church, because the main altar area is raised above the level of the nave, and a special window was opened to increase the amount of light on the picture. The design of the elaborate gilt wood frame is probably based upon Donatello’s high altar for the Paduan church dedicated to Saint Anthony, which, however, included bronze statues and reliefs rather than paintings. At the base are three large, nearly square predella scenes. These panels are copies, the originals were taken by Napoleon and are now in French museums.

The painting is an early masterpiece of the young Mantegna. Although the basic format of the painting is essentially that of the late Gothic polyptychs it nevertheless breaks new grounds in the way this traditional scheme is handled. The stage upon which the holy gathering takes place is set against an “open air” background. The garlands suspended from the proscenium which appear to thread between the simulated columns of the painting and the actual wooden ones of the frame, dissolve the idea of the fourth wall of the traditional perspective box. The spacial games of this painting have come a long way from Brunelleschi’s method of projecting the painted image onto an ideal plane. Perspective has now become a sophisticated means of achieving concrete reality.

For the main altar of the Veronese church of San Zeno, Mantegna produced one of the finest and most influential altarpieces of the period. The altarpiece occupies a privileged position in the church, because the main altar area is raised above the level of the nave, and a special window was opened to increase the amount of light on the picture. The design of the elaborate gilt wood frame is probably based upon Donatello’s high altar for the Paduan church dedicated to Saint Anthony, which, however, included bronze statues and reliefs rather than paintings. At the base are three large, nearly square predella scenes. These panels are copies, the originals were taken by Napoleon and are now in French museums.

The painting is an early masterpiece of the young Mantegna. Although the basic format of the painting is essentially that of the late Gothic polyptychs it nevertheless breaks new grounds in the way this traditional scheme is handled. The stage upon which the holy gathering takes place is set against an “open air” background. The garlands suspended from the proscenium which appear to thread between the simulated columns of the painting and the actual wooden ones of the frame, dissolve the idea of the fourth wall of the traditional perspective box. The spacial games of this painting have come a long way from Brunelleschi’s method of projecting the painted image onto an ideal plane. Perspective has now become a sophisticated means of achieving concrete reality.

For the main altar of the Veronese church of San Zeno, Mantegna produced one of the finest and most influential altarpieces of the period. The altarpiece occupies a privileged position in the church, because the main altar area is raised above the level of the nave, and a special window was opened to increase the amount of light on the picture. The design of the elaborate gilt wood frame is probably based upon Donatello’s high altar for the Paduan church dedicated to Saint Anthony, which, however, included bronze statues and reliefs rather than paintings. At the base are three large, nearly square predella scenes. These panels are copies, the originals were taken by Napoleon and are now in French museums.

The painting is an early masterpiece of the young Mantegna. Although the basic format of the painting is essentially that of the late Gothic polyptychs it nevertheless breaks new grounds in the way this traditional scheme is handled. The stage upon which the holy gathering takes place is set against an “open air” background. The garlands suspended from the proscenium which appear to thread between the simulated columns of the painting and the actual wooden ones of the frame, dissolve the idea of the fourth wall of the traditional perspective box. The spacial games of this painting have come a long way from Brunelleschi’s method of projecting the painted image onto an ideal plane. Perspective has now become a sophisticated means of achieving concrete reality.

The central part represents the Madonna and Child Enthroned (212 x 125 cm), the left part shows Saints Peter and Paul, Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Zeno, while the right part Saints Benedict, Lawrence, Gregory and Saint John the Baptist (235 x 135 cm each). The predella paintings are copies, the originals are in the Mus�e du Louvre and in the Mus�e des Beaux-Arts of Tours.

Despite the framing elements that divide them, the three main panels of the San Zeno Altarpiece form an unified picture space. The central section depicts the Madonna holding her Child and surrounded by music-making angels, seated on a marble throne decorated with Roman-inspired reliefs. The naturalistic trompe l’oeil garlands, seemingly affixed to the top of the picture, create a rapport with the garlands held by the putti in the marble relief at the top of the throne. The borderline between the real world and the invented world here breaks down completely.

The central section of the San Zeno Altarpiece depicts the Madonna holding her Child and surrounded by music-making angels, seated on a marble throne decorated with Roman-inspired reliefs. The naturalistic trompe l’oeil garlands, seemingly affixed to the top of the picture, create a rapport with the garlands held by the putti in the marble relief at the top of the throne. The borderline between the real world and the invented world here breaks down completely.

Mary’s throne is covered by a decorative Anatolian rug that testifies to Italy’s trading connections with the Orient. The horizontal S-shape on the outside border is the first letter of the Armenian expression for “God the Almighty.” Where possible, a place of worship would also be furnished with rugs with Christian symbols.

Mary’s throne is covered by a decorative Anatolian rug that testifies to Italy’s trading connections with the Orient. The horizontal S-shape on the outside border is the first letter of the Armenian expression for “God the Almighty.” Where possible, a place of worship would also be furnished with rugs with Christian symbols.

This detail of the central panel shows angel musicians.

This detail of the bottom part of the central panel shows an angel musician.

The naturalistic trompe l’oeil garlands, seemingly affixed to the top of the picture, create a rapport with the garlands held by the putti in the marble relief at the top of the throne. The borderline between the real world and the invented world here breaks down completely.

The naturalistic trompe l’oeil garlands, seemingly affixed to the top of the picture, create a rapport with the garlands held by the putti in the marble relief at the top of the throne. The borderline between the real world and the invented world here breaks down completely.

The left part of the polyptych shows Sts Peter and Paul, St John the Evangelist and St Zeno.

The right part of the polyptych shows Sts Benedict, Lawrence, Gregory and John the Baptist.

This photograph was taken before the chapel was destroyed on 11 March 1944. Today only fragments of the lower wall area remain. The right-hand wall of the chapel was dedicated to St Christopher. From the upper left to the lower right the scenes were St Christopher before the King (scene 1); the Confrontation with the Devil (scene 2); St Christopher Carrying Christ across the River (scene 3); St Christopher and the Soldiers of the King of Samos in Lycia (scene 4); the Martyrdom of St Christopher (scene 5); the Removal of his Body (scene 6).

The composition of the whole wall was Mantegna’s work, but only the two bottom pictures (scenes 5 and 6) were painted by him.

This photograph was taken before the chapel was destroyed on 11 March 1944. Today only fragments of the lower wall area remain. The right-hand wall of the chapel was dedicated to St Christopher. From the upper left to the lower right the scenes were St Christopher before the King (scene 1); the Confrontation with the Devil (scene 2); St Christopher Carrying Christ across the River (scene 3); St Christopher and the Soldiers of the King of Samos in Lycia (scene 4); the Martyrdom of St Christopher (scene 5); the Removal of his Body (scene 6).

The composition of the whole wall was Mantegna’s work, but only the two bottom pictures (scenes 5 and 6) were painted by him.

This photograph was taken before the chapel was destroyed on 11 March 1944. Today only fragments of the lower wall area remain. The right-hand wall of the chapel was dedicated to St Christopher. From the upper left to the lower right the scenes were St Christopher before the King (scene 1); the Confrontation with the Devil (scene 2); St Christopher Carrying Christ across the River (scene 3); St Christopher and the Soldiers of the King of Samos in Lycia (scene 4); the Martyrdom of St Christopher (scene 5); the Removal of his Body (scene 6).

The composition of the whole wall was Mantegna’s work, but only the two bottom pictures (scenes 5 and 6) were painted by him.