Portal:Andrea Mantegna
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Introduction
Andrea Mantegna (Italian: [anˈdrɛːa manˈteɲɲa]; c. 1431 – September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality. His flinty, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony figures give evidence of a fundamentally sculptural approach to painting. He also led a workshop that was the leading producer of prints in Venice before 1500.
Selected general articles
The Portrait of Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna, dated to c. 1459-1460. Read more...
Portrait of Francesco Gonzaga (c. 1461) is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna. It is housed in the National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
Francesco Gonzaga was the second son of Ludovico Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, who had been appointed as cardinal by Pope Pius II aged seventeen, just after the Council of Mantua. Read more...
The Christ as the Suffering Redeemer is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna, dated to c. 1488-1500 and housed in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark. Read more...
The Parnassus is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1497. It is housed in the Musée du Louvre of Paris. Read more...
Agony in the Garden is a painting of Andrea Mantegna, conserved at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours, dating from 1457-1459. Read more...
The Madonna with the Cherubim is a c.1485 painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna. Read more...
Ecce Homo is a painting by the Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna. It is conserved at Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris.
It depicts the presentation of Jesus Christ crowned with thorns. Read more...
The Ovetari Chapel (Italian: Cappella Ovetari) is a chapel in the right arm of the Church of the Eremitani in Padua. It is renowned for a Renaissance fresco cycle by Andrea Mantegna and others, painted from 1448 to 1457. The cycle was destroyed by an Allied bombing in 1944: today, only two scenes and a few fragments survive, which have been restored in 2006. They are, however, known from black-and-white photographs. Read more...
The Adoration of the Magi or Uffizi Triptych is a group of three tempera-on-panel paintings by Andrea Mantegna, dating to around 1460. Their three subjects are the Ascension of Christ (86 by 42.5 cm), Adoration of the Magi the largest and central panel (76 by 76.5 cm) and the Circumcision of Christ (86 by 42.5 cm). They were gathered as a trio in the 19th century, although some art historians doubt that they were created as a triptych set in the way they are now arranged. They are now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Read more...
The Triumph of the Virtues (also known as Minerva Expelling the Vices from the Garden of Virtue) is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1502. It is housed in the Musée du Louvre of Paris.
The triumph was the second picture painted by Mantegna for Isabella d'Este's studiolo (cabinet), after the Parnassus of 1497. It portrays a marsh enclosed by a tall fence, ruled over by the Vices, portrayed as hideous figures and identified by scrolls in a typically medieval way. Idleness is chased by Minerva, who is also rescuing Diana, goddess of chastity, from being raped by a Centaur, symbol of concupiscence. Next to Minerva is a tree with human features. High in the sky are the three primary moral virtues required to perfect the appetitive powers: Justice, Temperance and Fortitude. Read more...
The Triumphs of Caesar are a series of nine large paintings created by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna between 1484 and 1492 for the Gonzaga Ducal Palace, Mantua. They depict a triumphal military parade celebrating the victory of Julius Caesar in the Gallic Wars. Acknowledged from the time of Mantegna as his greatest masterpiece, they remain the most complete pictorial representation of a Roman triumph ever attempted and together they form the world's largest metric area of Italian Renaissance paintings outside Italy. Acquired by Charles I in 1629, they now form part of the Royal Collection at Hampton Court Palace near London, where they occupy a special gallery, with a new continuous frame intended to capture their original setting, mounted into panelling.
Originally painted in the fragile medium of egg and glue tempera on canvas, the paintings underwent successive repaintings and restorations through the centuries, and are damaged in many areas. Each canvas measures 2.66 x 2.78 m. In total they cover an area more than 70 metres square. Read more...
The Trivulzio Madonna is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1497. It is housed in the Sforza Castle Pinacoteca of the Castello Sforzesco, Milan.
The work portrays the Madonna enthroned surrounded by several saints. The theme of the cherubim surrounding the Madonna is a reference to Annunciation. On the side the saints are surmounted by two citrus trees, the two figures in the foreground are portrayed in order to be observed from a lower position. In the lower centre are three busts of chanting angels around an organ, an allusion the Olivetan church of Santa Maria in Organo at Verona, for which the panel was executed. The current name comes from the Trivulzio Collection of Milan, to which it belonged from 1791 to 1935. Read more...
Saint Mark is a 1448 tempera on canvas painting by Andrea Mantegna. It is now in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. It is the earliest known work by the artist.
Mantegna was aged 17 in 1448, the year in which he regained his independence after six years in the studio of Francesco Squarcione. He filed a lawsuit against his former master for not paying him for works he had produced under his own name. He also began several commissions, such as the altarpiece for Santa Sofia church in Padua, now destroyed. Read more...- St. Sebastian is the subject of three paintings by the Italian Early Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna. The Paduan artist lived in a period of frequent plagues; Sebastian was considered protector against the plague as having been shot through by arrows, and it was thought that plague spread abroad through the air.
In his long stay in Mantua, furthermore, Mantegna resided near the San Sebastiano church dedicated to St. Sebastian. Read more...
The Adoration of the Magi or Uffizi Triptych is a group of three tempera-on-panel paintings by Andrea Mantegna, dating to around 1460. Their three subjects are the Ascension of Christ (86 by 42.5 cm), Adoration of the Magi the largest and central panel (76 by 76.5 cm) and the Circumcision of Christ (86 by 42.5 cm). They were gathered as a trio in the 19th century, although some art historians doubt that they were created as a triptych set in the way they are now arranged. They are now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Read more...
The Lamentation of Christ (also known as the Lamentation over the Dead Christ, or the Dead Christ and other variants) is a painting of about 1480 by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna. While the dating of the piece is debated, it was completed between 1475 and 1501, probably in the early 1480s. It portrays the body of Christ supine on a marble slab. He is watched over by the Virgin Mary and Saint John and St. Mary Magdalene weeping for his death.
The theme of the Lamentation of Christ is common in medieval and Renaissance art, although this treatment, dating back to a subject known as the Anointing of Christ is unusual for the period. Most Lamentations show much more contact between the mourners and the body. Rich contrasts of light and shadow abound, infused by a profound sense of pathos. The realism and tragedy of the scene are enhanced by the violent perspective, which foreshortens and dramatizes the recumbent figure, stressing the anatomical details: in particular, Christ's thorax. The holes in Christ's hands and feet, as well as the faces of the two mourners, are portrayed without any concession to idealism or rhetoric. The sharply drawn drapery which covers the corpse contributes to the dramatic effect. The composition places the central focus of the image on Christ's genitals - an emphasis often found in figures of Jesus, especially as an infant, in this period, which has been related to a theological emphasis on the Humanity of Jesus by Leo Steinberg and others. Read more...
Exemplary Women of Antiquity is a set of paintings produced between 1495 and 1500 by Andrea Mantegna. They show the Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba poisoning herself to avoid being paraded in a Roman triumph, the Roman Vestal Virgin Tuccia proving her chastity by carrying water in a sieve, Judith with the head of Holofernes and Dido holding Sychaeus's funeral urn. Infrared reflectography has uncovered a signature on the back of Judith reading And.a Mantegnia. P[inxit]. (Andrea Mantegna painted [it]). Sophonisba and Tuccia are egg-tempera on poplar panel, whilst Judith and Holofernes are glue-tempera on linen canvas.
All four works are in monochrome or grisaille and imitate relief sculpture, a style very popular in the Mantuan court at the time thanks to the expense of importing marble from neighbouring Italian states and the lack of sculptors at court. Another example was the same artist's The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome from around the same times. Tuccia and Sophonisba originally had the same dimensions. Read more...
The Presentation at the Temple is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna. Dating to c. 1455, it is housed in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany. Read more...
Judith and Holofernes is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna, painted about 1495, depicting the common subject in art of Judith beheading Holofernes. Read more...
The Madonna della Vittoria is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna; the painting was executed in 1496. Read more...
St Jerome in the Wilderness is a tempera on panel painting, measuring 48 by 36 cm and attributed to Andrea Mantegna. It dates to between 1449 and 1450 and is now in the São Paulo Museum of Art. Read more...
The Madonna with Sleeping Child is a glue-tempera on canvas painting measuring 43 cm by 32 cm. It was painted around 1465-1470 by Andrea Mantegna and is now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
Intended for private devotion, it dispenses with the two figures' usual haloes in favour of a more intimate, simple and tender approach. Mantegna draws on Donatello's motif of Mary's face touching the child, whilst they are both enveloped in a brocade mantle against a black background. Read more...- St. Sebastian is the subject of three paintings by the Italian Early Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna. The Paduan artist lived in a period of frequent plagues; Sebastian was considered protector against the plague as having been shot through by arrows, and it was thought that plague spread abroad through the air.
In his long stay in Mantua, furthermore, Mantegna resided near the San Sebastiano church dedicated to St. Sebastian. Read more...
Sibyl and Prophet is a grisaille distemper painting by Andrea Mantegna c. 1495. It is now in the Cincinnati Art Museum. Read more...
The San Zeno Altarpiece is a triptych by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, from c. 1457-1460. It is located in the Basilica di San Zeno, the main church of Verona. The three predellas, stripped by the French in 1797 along with the main picture (restored to Verona in 1815), are now replaced by copies. The originals are in the Louvre (Crucifixion) and in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tours (Resurrection and Agony in the Garden).
The work was commissioned by the Abbot Gregorio Correr. In the centre is the Madonna enthroned with the Child, portrayed according to the Byzantine iconography of the Victorious Madonna and surrounded by chanting angels. Eight saints are placed at the sides, according to the commissioner's preferences: on the left are Peter, Paul, John the Evangelist and Zeno; on the right, Benedict, Lawrence, Gregory and John the Baptist. Read more...
The Adoration of the Magi or Uffizi Triptych is a group of three tempera-on-panel paintings by Andrea Mantegna, dating to around 1460. Their three subjects are the Ascension of Christ (86 by 42.5 cm), Adoration of the Magi the largest and central panel (76 by 76.5 cm) and the Circumcision of Christ (86 by 42.5 cm). They were gathered as a trio in the 19th century, although some art historians doubt that they were created as a triptych set in the way they are now arranged. They are now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Read more...
The Adoration of the Shepherds is a painting by the northern Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna, dated to c. 1450-1451. Read more...
The San Lucas Altarpiece, also known as the San Lucas Polyptych, is a polyptych panel painting by Northern Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna. The altarpiece is a polyptych panel painting featuring 12 figures each in his or her own arch. The seven figures in the top row flank the central figure of Jesus Christ. The five beneath flank Saint Luke. Read more...
The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist is a tempera on canvas painting measuring 71 cm by 50.5 cm. It is attributed to Andrea Mantegna, dated to around 1500 and now held in the National Gallery, London. Its poor conservation means that some scholars do not directly attribute it to Mantegna, though its idea and format definitely refer to autograph works by him.
The parapet on which the Christ Child and the infant John the Baptist stand also encloses the Virgin, referring to her Immaculate Conception or to the hortus conclusus of her virginity. John holds a scroll and points to Christ, who holds a sphere representing his earthly power. In the background is saint Joseph in a red cloak. Read more...- St. Sebastian is the subject of three paintings by the Italian Early Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna. The Paduan artist lived in a period of frequent plagues; Sebastian was considered protector against the plague as having been shot through by arrows, and it was thought that plague spread abroad through the air.
In his long stay in Mantua, furthermore, Mantegna resided near the San Sebastiano church dedicated to St. Sebastian. Read more...
Saint George is a 66 by 32 cm tempera on panel painting by Andrea Mantegna, dated to around 1460 and now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. It shows the saint in armour and on foot, carrying the remains of the lance he has used to kill the dragon, who lies at his feet with the lance's point stuck in its jaw. There is a marble border down the left and right hand sides of the painting, though George's elbow protrudes over the left hand border and the dragon's head over the right-hand border - such illusions were a signature trait of Mantegna's work, especially between the end of his Paduan period (by 1459) and the start of his time in Mantua (from 1460). The garland at the top is a typical motive of the Squarcione school, referring back to Mantegna's time in Squarcione's studio in Padua during his youth, whilst in the right hand background a road leads to a walled hilltop city. Read more...
Portrait of a Man (c. 1460–1470) is a painting attributed to the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna. It is housed in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, United States. Read more...
St. Bernardino of Siena between Two Angels is a painting attributed to the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna and his assistants, dated to 1460 and housed in the Pinacoteca di Brera of Milan.
The painting was located in the funerary chapel of marquis Ludovico III Gonzaga, dedicated to St. Bernardino and situated in church of San Francesco in Mantua. It was acquired by the Milanese gallery in 1811. Read more...
The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome is a glue-tempera on canvas painting measuring 73.5 cm by 268 cm. It was produced in 1505–1506 by Andrea Mantegna and is now in the National Gallery in London. Like much of Mantegna's output after 1495 it is in monochrome, linked to contemporary sculpture and also part of the trend for illusion and trompe l'oeil favoured by the Mantuan court and especially by Isabella d'Este. Read more...
The Portrait of Carlo de' Medici is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1466. It is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence. Read more...
The Madonna of the Caves (Italian – Madonna delle Cave) is a tempera on panel painting measuring 32 cm 29.6 cm. It was painted in 1488-1490 by the Italian painter Andrea Mantegna and is now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
It is named after a stone quarry in the right-hand background, where workers are carving out a capital, a slab, part of a column shaft and a sarcophagus, perhaps alluding to Christ future flagellation and burial. The rock on which the Virgin sits may also be intended to represent the summit of Calvary, whilst in the left-hand background are a shepherd and his flock, farmers gathering hay from a field, a castle and a road leading to a distant walled city. Fiocco argues that the background is based on Carrara whilst Kristeller instead identifies it with Monte Bolca between Vicenza and Verona. Some interpret the shift from dark to light moving from right to left across the background as an allegory of redemption through Christ and the Church, with Mary as the mother of both. Read more...
Descent into Limbo is a 1492 tempera and gold on panel painting by Andrea Mantegna, now in the Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection in Princeton, New Jersey. It shows the Descent into Limbo. There are also drawings of the subject by Mantegna in the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, whilst Giovanni Bellini also painted the subject. Read more...
Descent into Limbo is a 1492 tempera and gold on panel painting by Andrea Mantegna, now in the Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection in Princeton, New Jersey. It shows the Descent into Limbo. There are also drawings of the subject by Mantegna in the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, whilst Giovanni Bellini also painted the subject. Read more...
The Death of the Virgin is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, from c. 1462–1464.
In this picture Mantegna depicts the last moment of Mary's life within a space defined by classical architectures, with a squared pavement which leads the observer's eyes towards the bed on which the Virgin lies. In the background is a lake scene which is a detailed reproduction of the bridge and the burgh of the Castle of St. George in Mantua. The work was originally part of the decoration of the Castle chapel, together with three panels now in the Uffizi of Florence (Adoration of the Magi, The Ascension and The Circumcision) and one now in Ferrara (Christ Bearing the Soul of the Virgin). Read more...
The Crucifixion is a panel in the central part of the predella (see image below) of a large altarpiece painted by Andrea Mantegna between 1457 and 1459 for the high altar of San Zeno, Verona (Italy). It was commissioned by Gregorio Correr, the abbot of that monastery. Read more...
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Selected images
The Madonna of the Cherubim (1485).
Bacchanal with a wine vat, engraving by Mantegna, c1475, 278 x 422 mm
The Virgin Mary in Andrea Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece combines pseudo-Arabic halos and garment hems, with an Oriental carpet at her feet (1456–1459).
The Agony in the Garden (right panel of the predella of the San Zeno Altarpiece, 1455) National Gallery, London is the pinnacle of Mantegna's early style.
The Lamentation over the Dead Christ
Tempera on canvas, 68x81 cm, 1490
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.Judith and Holofernes, by Andrea Mantegna or possibly Giulio Campagnola
Christ as the Suffering Redeemer. Christ resurrecting, depicted according to Luke 24:1-2, praising the Lord with a hymn.
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