Andrea Mantegna: 9 works

A slideshow of artworks auto-selected from multiple collections

By Google Arts & Culture

St. Sebastian (1457/1459) by Andrea MantegnaKunsthistorisches Museum Wien

'Mantegna, who was the most important Upper Italian painter of the Quattrocento, became court painter to the Gonzaga in Mantua in 1459.'

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'Andrea Mantegna may have made the studies in preparation for an altarpiece in Verona or for his partly destroyed frescoes in the Ovetari Chapel in Padua. On the verso, he added a reclining male nude and a man with an uplifted arm among the inscriptions-possibly Mantegna's own exercises in penmanship.'

Study of Four Saints (Peter, Paul, John the Evangelist, and Zeno) (1456–1459) by Andrea MantegnaThe J. Paul Getty Museum

'Andrea Mantegna made this drawing as a preparatory study for the left side panel of an altarpiece, still in the church of San Zeno in Verona, which he painted between 1456 and 1459. Although the drawing is highly finished, it was evidently made at an early stage of the design, since Mantegna subsequently changed the saints' positions.'

The Madonna and Child with Saints Joseph, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist (c. 1485–88) by Andrea MantegnaKimbell Art Museum

'The triumphant contrapposto pose and figural canon of the Christ Child, which recurs in other works by Mantegna, derives from antique Roman sculpture, which was then being ardently collected. In this and other devotional paintings Mantegna experimented with distemper, a glue tempera, painted on a fine linen canvas.'

A Sibyl and a Prophet (ca. 1495) by Andrea Mantegna (Italian, b.Circa 1431, d.1506)Cincinnati Art Museum

'This almost perfectly preserved painting by Andrea Mantegna, showing the dialogue between a crowned woman and a bearded, turbaned man, has defied attempts to uncover either its subject or its meaning.'

Judith with the Head of Holofernes (c. 1495/1500) by Andrea Mantegna or Follower (Possibly Giulio Campagnola)National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

'Mantegna was trained in the Paduan workshop of Squarcione, but he was strongly influenced by the Florentine sculptor Donatello. He married the daughter of the Venetian artist Jacopo Bellini, and was influenced by his work, as well as that of his brother-in-law Giovanni Bellini.'

The Holy Family (ca. 1495 - 1500) by Andrea MantegnaOld Masters Picture Gallery, Dresden State Art Museums

'This late work by Mantegna testifies to the great influence antiquity had upon Renaissance art.'

Adoration of the Magi (Main View)The J. Paul Getty Museum

'Andrea Mantegna's composition of figures and objects compressed within a shallow space was based on his study of ancient Roman reliefs.'

Portrait of a Man (1450 ca.) by Andrea MantegnaMuseo Poldi Pezzoli

'The materials used by Mantegna in this painting were precious, though they have been partly lost: the dark background, which today strikes us as rather restrained, was originally a brilliant blue colour made from costly lapis lazuli. It is anyway still possible to recognize the outstanding quality of the work, which has been attributed to Andrea Mantegna in the early phase of his career, in the years around 1450.'

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