|
Mantegna, Andrea (Italian, 1431-1506)'s works |
|
|
| Biography: |
|
Together with Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Mantegna was largely responsible for spreading the ideas of the Early Renaissance in northern Italy.
He studied in Padua under Francesco Squarcione, who also collected and sold antiquities and coins, thus introducing his pupil to this field. But most important for Mantegna¡¯s artistic development was the sculptor Donatello, who from 1443 created the high altar for San Antonio in Padua. From him Mantegna learned how to paint anatomically correct figures, how to achieve precision when tracing details, and not least how to compose a picture with an accurate perspective view.
By 1448, the young painter showed himself almost independent in style when decorating the Ovetary Chapel of the Eremitani Church in Padua (most of it destroyed in World War II).
The Triptych that he painted for the Veronese church of San Zeno (1458) reveals clearly the character of his art. The figures possess a solemn monumental quality and are remarkably faithful to antique statues. Throughout Mantegna¡¯s art both classical architecture and perspective were continuously explored. It was then that Mantegna¡¯s working relationship with his brother-in-law Giovanni Bellini began, which was vitally important to the development of the Renaissance in Northern Italy. (Mantegna was married to Bellini¡¯s sister, Nicolosia).
In 1460, Mantegna became court painter to the Gonzaga family in Mantua. After that he only left Mantua for occasional trips to Tuscany and Rome. Among his most important commissions in Mantua was the decoration of the Reggia, the ducal apartments in the Castello di San Giorgio. Only the frescoes in the Camera degli Sposi ¨C one of the public rooms of Ludovico Gonzaga and his wife ¨C have survived. The loss of the cycles in the other rooms is a reminder of the fragmentary and chance nature of our knowledge of the art and culture of the Early Renaissance.
In about 1490, Mantegna began to produce engravings of great artistic and technical perfection, which contributed greatly to the dissemination of the Early Renaissance innovations north of the Alps.
.... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[1] [2] |
