Andrea Mantegna
Italian painter; born according to some authorities, at Vicenza,
according to others at Padua, in 1431, died at Mantua, 13
September, 1506. Little is known of his origin save that he came
of honourable parentage and was adopted at an early age by
Francesco Squarcione who reared him as his son. Everything tends
to show that his artistic education began very early, for he was
at work upon masterpieces at an age when most artists are still
under tuition. He owed little of what he knew to his foster-
father, who, although the founder of the Paduan school of
painting, possessed but mediocre ability. Mantegna's earliest
known work, a "Madonna in Glory", was painted when he was
seventeen for the church of S. Sofia at Padua. This picture is no
longer in existence, but to judge from his next dated work, a
fresco (1452) in the church of the Santo, Padua, this first
achievement must have exhibited almost incredible maturity of
talent. In 1454 he was employed in the church of S. Giustina,
Padua, where he painted the Ancona, which is now in the Brera, at
Milan Squarcione had been commissioned by the Ovetari family to
decorate the Church of the Eremitani, Padua, and he had deputed a
portion of the task to Mantegna. By these frescoes, which attest a
steady development in his manner, he is doubtless best known. The
probable dates are 1448-55 and the frescoes due to him are: on the
left wall, "Baptism of Hermogenes", " St. James before Caesar",
"St. James led to execution", and "The Martyrdom of St. James"; on
the right wall, "The Martyrdom of St. Christopher", and "The
Removal of his Body". These works established his fame as the
foremost painter of the Paduan school, and among those who
recognized and applauded his genius was Jacopo Bellini, whose
daughter, Nicolosia, Mantegna married in 1454. This brought about
a rupture with Squarcione which was final.
At the height of his fame he painted the portrait of Cardinal
Scarampi (1459), the altar-piece of the Church of San Zeno,
Venice, and the "Agony in the Garden". In 1457 Lodovico Gonzaga,
Marquess of Mantua, invited Mantegna to enter his service, but it
was two years before the successful artist could be persuaded to
accept. In 1459 he went to Mantua, and here, save for the interval
of his stay in Rome, whither he went at the request of Innocent
VIII to decorate the new chapel in the Vatican, he spent the
remainder of his life. He was held in great honour but treated
with only spasmodic liberality, his salary being irregularly paid.
Lodovico was succeeded in 1478 by his son Federigo who died in
1484, and Francesco Gonzaga succeeded him at the age of eighteen.
Francesco was betrothed to the beautiful and accomplished Isabella
d'Este, one of the women whose appreciation and encouragement of
art and letters did so much to make the Renaissance what it was.
In 1485 Mantegna was ordered by Gonzaga to paint a Madonna for
Isabella's mother, the Duchess of Ferrara, to do which he
interrupted a series of paintings, "The Triumph of Caesar", now at
Hampton Court, which he had begun soon after his arrival in
Mantua. His work in the Vatican was another interruption, but on
his return to Mantua in 1490 he continued this, the greatest of
his works which was completed in 1494.
In 1495 he painted an altarpiece in commemoration of the
marquess's victory at Fornovo. This picture, the "Madonna della
Vittoria", is now at the Louvre. The "Madonna and Saints", painted
for the church of Santa Maria in Organo, Verona, was finished in
1497. Another series of paintings was that executed for the
Marchioness Isabella as decorations for her study. These were "The
Triumph of Wisdom", "Parnassus", and "The Masque of Comus", the
last-named being finished by Lorenzo Costa. To the last period of
his life belong the "Madonna and Saints", now in the National
Gallery, the "Dead Christ", in the Brera, Milan and "The Triumph
of Scipio", in the National Gallery. Mantegna's work is grandly
conceived and severely beautiful. His manner has been called dry
and hard, but he exhibits marvellous art in his modelling of form
and disposing of drapery, as well as great knowledge of design. He
was one of the earliest Italian engravers on copper, but few of
the plates attributed to him are his.
B.M. KELLY
Transcribed by Michael C. Tinkler
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
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editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
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