Andrea Mantegna

Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431–September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance artist from Florence, whose work included paintings, engravings, and frescoes.

Artistry

His work is characterized by classical elements, such as an attempt to mimic a Roman bas-relief in paint. Mantegna's work also shows strong Donatello influences, as does the work of Mantegna's brother-in-law Giovanni Bellini and Albrecht Dürer.

Related Topics:
Classical - Bas-relief - Donatello - Giovanni Bellini - Albrecht Dürer

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Of Mantegna's early career, the Church of Eremitani's frescoes were his greatest achievement, painted with Ansuino da Forlì; these works were destroyed in a 1944 bombing. Ansuino brings the style of Mantegna in the "Forlì school of painting" till Melozzo da Forlì. The most dramatic work of the fresco cycle was the work set in the worm's eye view perspective, St. James Led to His Execution. The sketch of this fresco survived and is the earliest known preliminary sketch which still exists to compare to the corresponding fresco. Despite the authentic look of the monument, it is not a copy of any known Roman structure. This connection to antiquity links Mategna with the humanists of the University of Padua who shared his ancient devotion. In Florence, this attitude could not have been conveyed to him by any local sculptors or painters. Mantegna also adopts the wet drapery patterns of the Romans—who derived the form from the Greek invention—for the clothing of his figures, although the tense figures and interactions are derived from Donatello. The drawing shows proof that nude figures were used in the conception of works during the Early Renaissance. In the preliminary sketch, the perspective is less developed and closer to a more average viewpoint however. This worm's eye perspective, creating an effectively large and prominent setting, is also seen in his work The Holy Trinity with the Virgin, St. John, and Two Donors. (Janson 426)

Related Topics:
Fresco - Ansuino da Forlì - 1944 - Melozzo da Forlì - Worm's eye view - Antiquity - Humanists - University of Padua

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His work includes frescoes in the Ovetari Chapel in Padua (1448-59), the San Zeno Altarpiece (1456-59) Judith with the Head of Holofernes, The Agony in the Garden (c.1455), and the frescoed ceiling of the Camera degli Sposi at the Gonzaga family palace in Mantua.

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