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

==Biography==
Mategna was born in Isola di Caturo. His father
was a woodcutter. Around 1450, Mategna emerged as
an independent master. He had started as the
apprentice of Francesco Squarcione in Padua at the
age of ten. Squarcione was something of a fanatic
for ancient Rome, and taught Mantegna the Latin
language and instructed him to study fragments of
Roman sculpture. He also preferred forced
perspective. Elements of both influences can be
seen in Mantegna's work. 

Squarcione legally adoption|adopted Mantegna, and
it was the court case that filed by Mantegna at
the age of 17 to separate himself from Squarcione
that marked the begining of Mantegna's career.
Mantegna's early career was shaped by impressions
of Florentine works and an assumed contact with
Donatello is evident in his works.  He is
considered (along with Masaccio) one of the two
most important painters of the early Renaissance.
Mantegna was able to carry out his own commissions
by age 17. Over the following decade, he reached
artistic maturity and over the following fifty
years he broadened his artistic range, without
abandoning his developed style. In 1453, Mantegna
married Jacopo Bellini's daughter. In 1460,
Mantegna was appointed court artist to the Gonzaga
family, rulers of Mantua. (Janson 426)

==Artistry==

His work is characterized by Classicism|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.

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 da
Forlì|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)

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.

==Reference==
* Janson, H.W., Janson, Anthony F.History of Art.
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. 6 edition.
January 1, 2005. ISBN 0131828959

== External Links ==
*http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/65/ Maurice Sendak
Lecture on "Descent into Limbo"
*http://www.frick.org/assets/images/FrickAR2000.pd
f The Frick Collection Report 2000, includes
"Descent into Limbo"

commonscat|Andrea Mantegna

	Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

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

==Biography==
Mategna was born in Isola di Caturo. His father
was a woodcutter. Around 1450, Mategna emerged as
an independent master. He had started as the
apprentice of Francesco Squarcione in Padua at the
age of ten. Squarcione was something of a fanatic
for ancient Rome, and taught Mantegna the Latin
language and instructed him to study fragments of
Roman sculpture. He also preferred forced
perspective. Elements of both influences can be
seen in Mantegna's work. 

Squarcione legally adoption|adopted Mantegna, and
it was the court case that filed by Mantegna at
the age of 17 to separate himself from Squarcione
that marked the begining of Mantegna's career.
Mantegna's early career was shaped by impressions
of Florentine works and an assumed contact with
Donatello is evident in his works.  He is
considered (along with Masaccio) one of the two
most important painters of the early Renaissance.
Mantegna was able to carry out his own commissions
by age 17. Over the following decade, he reached
artistic maturity and over the following fifty
years he broadened his artistic range, without
abandoning his developed style. In 1453, Mantegna
married Jacopo Bellini's daughter. In 1460,
Mantegna was appointed court artist to the Gonzaga
family, rulers of Mantua. (Janson 426)

==Artistry==

His work is characterized by Classicism|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.

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 da
Forlì|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)

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.

==Reference==
* Janson, H.W., Janson, Anthony F.History of Art.
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. 6 edition.
January 1, 2005. ISBN 0131828959

== External Links ==
*http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/65/ Maurice Sendak
Lecture on "Descent into Limbo"
*http://www.frick.org/assets/images/FrickAR2000.pd
f The Frick Collection Report 2000, includes
"Descent into Limbo"

commonscat|Andrea Mantegna