Chief of these early works was the fresco decoration for
the Ovetari chapel (1448–55), in which Mantegna demon-
strated his original mastery of perspective; these frescoes
were largely destroyed in 1944. He married the daughter
of Jacopo Bellini in 1454. Mantegna then executed an in-
fluential altarpiece for the church of San Zeno in Verona
(1459), in which he depicted sacred figures in a group in-
stead of the usual triptych (see SACRA CONVERSAZIONE),
before being appointed court painter to the Gonzaga fam-
ily in Mantua in 1460. Another painting, St. Sebastian
(c. 1460; Vienna), again betrays his passion for antiquity
and impressed Vasari, but it was not until 1474 that he
painted his best work, the Camera degli Sposi in the
Palazzo Ducale in Mantua. This painted room includes
portraits of the Gonzaga family and their court, classical
motifs, and an illusionistic painted ceiling later imitated
by artists of the Baroque. Other major works of Man-
tagna’s later period include the nine-canvas series of the
Triumph of Caesar (1487–94; Hampton Court Palace), Par-
nassus (1497; Louvre, Paris), and the Triumph of Virtue (c.
1500; Louvre), all of which had a deeper allegorical sig-
nificance. One of the most important artists of the early
Italian Renaissance, Mantegna influenced many later
artists, including Giovanni BELLINIand DÜRER.
Further reading: Suzanne Boorsch et al, Andrea Man-
tegna (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1993); Jack M.
Greenstein, Mantegna and Painting as Historical Narrative
(Chicago, Ill. and London: University of Chicago Press,
1992).
Mantovano, Battista See SPAGNOLI, GIOVAN BATTISTA
Mantua A city in Lombardy, northern Italy. Protected by
lakes on three sides, Mantua was first an Etruscan settle-
ment and then Roman. In the late Middle Ages Mantua
was governed by the Bonacolsi family (1276–1328) before
the GONZAGAseized power and ruled for three centuries.
With imperial support, astute government, sound admin-
istration, and the approval of the city’s leading families,
the Gonzaga gave Mantua security, independence, and po-
litical prestige. Local agriculture and textiles brought
prosperity to the city, which attained a population of
about 25,000 by 1500. Under the Gonzaga Mantua was a
splendid center of the arts and scholarship. MANTEGNA
was court painter, the architects Giulio ROMANOand AL-
BERTIdesigned a number of Mantua’s buildings, and the
humanist educator VITTORINO DA FELTREmade Mantua a
center of learning. The writers CASTIGLIONEand TASSOalso
enjoyed Gonzaga patronage. Notable buildings which
have survived from the period of the Renaissance include
the cathedral (rebuilt in the 16th century), the churches of
San Francesco (1304), San Sebastiano (1460–70), and
Sant’ Andrea (begun 1472), the ducal palace (begun
1292), the Palazzo della Ragione (13th to 15th centuries),
and the Palazzo del TÈ(1525–35).
Mantuan See SPAGNOLI, GIOVAN BATTISTAManuel I (Emanuel) (1469–1521) King of Portugal
(1495–1521)
Known as “the Fortunate,” he succeeded his cousin John
II (“the Perfect Prince”), whose heir, Afonso, had died in
a riding accident (1490). Manuel’s reign saw Portugal es-
tablished as a global power, with Vasco da GAMA’s voyage
to India, CABRAL’s landfall in Brazil, the appointment of Al-
fonso ALBUQUERQUEas viceroy over Portugal’s Indian pos-
sessions, and the establishment of trading links with
Persia and China. Hoping to unite the whole Iberian
peninsula under the Portuguese crown, he married suc-
cessively two daughters of FERDINAND II AND ISABELLA I. As
a condition of his first marriage the Catholic monarchs in-
sisted on the expulsion of the JEWSfrom Portugal (1497).
A zealous builder of monasteries, Manuel gave his name to
the MANUELINE STYLEof decoration.Manuel, Niklaus See DEUTSCH, NIKLAUS MANUELManueline style (Portuguese Arte Manuelina) A style in
Portuguese architecture associated with the reign
(1495–1521) of King MANUEL I, under whom numerous
monasteries and churches were built. Three architects ac-
tive in the early 16th century are preeminently associated
with the introduction of the Manueline style: the brothers
Diogo (c. 1470–1531) and Francisco (c. 1480–1547) de
Arruda and Diogo de Boytac (or Boitac; fl. 1498–1525). It
was contemporaneous with and partly influenced by the
early PLATERESQUEin Spain and, like plateresque, incorpo-
rates mudéjar (Spanish Moorish) elements and represents
a transition from Gothic to Renaissance modes. Its char-
acteristic decorative motif is a carved stone rope, thickly
knotted and twisted round windows and doorways, coiled
around pinnacles, looped from vaulting, and in many
other situations; coral, tree branches, artichokes, and
other organic forms, often with a marine connection, are
also worked into the designs, which are generally carved
in much higher relief than their plateresque equivalents.
The monasteries at Tomar, BATALHA, Belém, and Alcobaça
exhibit examples of Manueline style, and it was also ex-
ported to Portuguese possessions overseas, such as Goa.manuscripts Although the Renaissance period is gener-
ally seen as preeminently the era of the rise of PRINTING,
manuscripts remained significant both as prizes to be
sought out and collected and as prestige items to be com-
missioned. In the early Renaissance, rare manuscripts,
particularly of classical texts, were reproduced by copyists
who were often skilled calligraphers and who, with the aid
of illuminators (illustrators), turned the copies into desir-
able objects in their own right; after the invention of print-
ing manuscripts containing accurate texts were sought
with a view to using them as printers’ exemplars. Thus, inmmaannuussccrriippttss 2 29999