Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna was born in Isola di Carturo, close to Padua, in the Venetian Republic. He became apprenticed to Paduan painter Francesco Squarcione at the age of 11. Squarcione had originally been a tailor but developed an enthusiasm for ancient art that bordered on obsession. The master traveled through Italy and possibly Greece to collect antique statues, reliefs, and vases. He made his own drawings from these objects and allowed his pupils to study them as well. As many as 137 painters passed through Squarcione's school after it opened around 1440. Mantegna learned Latin there and studied fragments of Roman sculpture under the master's direction. He also absorbed lessons about forced perspective from his teacher. At 17, he left Squarcione's workshop claiming the older man profited from his work without paying him enough. His first known altarpiece appeared for the church of Santa Sofia in 1448.
Mantegna worked alongside Nicolò Pizolo on frescoes inside the Ovetari Chapel during the late 1450s. These paintings decorated the transept of Sant'Agostino degli Eremitani in Padua. One dramatic scene showed Saint James being led to execution using worm's-eye view perspective. The figures looked like men carved from stone according to critics who later examined the work. Squarcione himself complained that the colors should have been marble tones instead of flesh tones. Most of this fresco cycle disappeared during Allied bombings of Padua in 1944. A surviving sketch for a Saint Stephen fresco reveals nude figures were used before they were painted clothed. The San Zeno Altarpiece followed shortly after these experiments with architectural structures based on Classical antiquity. It stands today as one of the earliest examples of Renaissance art in Verona.
Marquis Ludovico III Gonzaga pressed Mantegna into service starting around 1460. He received a monthly salary of 75 lire which marked high regard for his art at that time. From December 1466 onward he moved his family to reside within Mantua itself. His masterpiece became the Camera degli Sposi or Wedding Chamber inside the Palazzo Ducale. This series included full compositions featuring portraits of the Gonzaga family alongside genii and other figures. An innovative oculus on the ceiling created profound spatial illusions that influenced Antonio da Correggio decades later. The decoration finished presumably by 1474 but the following decade brought personal tragedy. His son Bernardino died while Marchese Ludovico also passed away along with his wife Barbara. Federico succeeded them and dubbed Mantegna cavaliere meaning knight. Artistic commissions resumed only after Francesco II took power.
Mantegna never signed most of his plates except for one disputed instance dated 1472. Vasari claimed he began engraving in Rome after seeing works by Baccio Baldini but modern scholars doubt this timeline. It is possible he started creating prints while still in Padua under goldsmith Niccolò. His workshop produced approximately thirty large plates filled with figures according to usual reckoning. Some experts believe he personally engraved only seven or perhaps none at all. Giovanni Antonio da Brescia likely made several plates alongside him using parallel hatching techniques. These prints featured scenes like Battle of the Sea Monsters and Judith with the Head of Holofernes. They appeared in two states where hand pressing yielded weak tints compared to stronger ink from printing presses. Neither Mantegna nor his workshop are now believed to have created the so-called Mantegna Tarocchi cards.
Mantegna completed nine tempera pictures known as The Triumphs of Caesar around 1492. He had probably begun these before leaving for Rome in 1488 when Pope Innocent VIII called him there. The frescoes painted for Vatican's Belvedere chapel were later destroyed by Pius VI in 1780. Returning to Mantua he embraced a literary vision of antiquity again. Isabella d'Este became a new patron though she disliked his portrait of her from 1493 saying it lacked features resembling her own. The Triumphs series sold in 1628 along with other treasures to King Charles I of England. Hampton Court Palace holds them today as some of his finest invented compositions. Their classical learning combined with enthusiasm defined one of the masters of the age.
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Common questions
Where was Andrea Mantegna born and when did he start his apprenticeship?
Andrea Mantegna was born in Isola di Carturo, close to Padua, in the Venetian Republic. He became apprenticed to Paduan painter Francesco Squarcione at the age of 11 around 1440.
What happened to the frescoes by Andrea Mantegna inside the Ovetari Chapel?
Most of this fresco cycle disappeared during Allied bombings of Padua in 1944. A surviving sketch for a Saint Stephen fresco reveals nude figures were used before they were painted clothed.
When did Andrea Mantegna move his family to reside within Mantua itself?
From December 1466 onward he moved his family to reside within Mantua itself. His masterpiece became the Camera degli Sposi or Wedding Chamber inside the Palazzo Ducale.
How many large plates did the workshop of Andrea Mantegna produce approximately?
His workshop produced approximately thirty large plates filled with figures according to usual reckoning. Some experts believe he personally engraved only seven or perhaps none at all.
Where are The Triumphs of Caesar by Andrea Mantegna located today?
Hampton Court Palace holds them today as some of his finest invented compositions. The series sold in 1628 along with other treasures to King Charles I of England.