Andrea Mantegna
Born – Isola di Carttura, Italy 1431
Died – Mantua, Italy 1506
Andrea Mantegna was the pupil and adopted son of archaeologist and painter, Squarcione, who inspired his early interest in ancient artefacts and sculpture. He married into the eminent Bellini family in about 1453. In 1459, he became the court painter to Ludovico Gonzaga in Mantua, and stayed in the service of the family until his death. For the interiors of the ducal palace, he created the decorative series The Triumph of Caesar, which is strewn with classical ruins. The Dead Christ features a dramatic close-up of a cadaver. The mourners are extraneous figures in this painting; through dramatic foreshortening the viewer is placed in an unusual position at the feet of the corpse. The choice of viewpoint, the carefully planned elements such as the draped shroud, the stony colour of the skin and above all the posture of the body all emphasize the feeling of complete stillness. Mantegna worked within the tradition of Masaccio, but modelled his figures by layering washes of thin tempera. This was a Venetian technique, suiting the damp northern climate better than fresco painting.
Masterpieces:
- Madonna della Vittoria
- Agony in the Garden
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About andrea mantegna
The Genius of Andrea Mantegna (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Keith Christiansen
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Andrea Mantegna: The Adoration of the Magi (Getty Museum Studies on Art)
Dawson Carr
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Andrea Mantegna: Padua and Mantua (Great Fresco Cycles of the Renaissance)
Keith Christiansen
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