The Renaissance

ries of foreshortened figures. These strik-
ing paintings established an entirely new
technique of ceiling paintings done for pri-
vate homes and churches that flourished
in the late Renaissance and the Baroque
eras. In the 1480s, while still in Mantua,
Mantegna also completedThe Triumph of
Caesar, a series of nine paintings that
showed a triumphal procession in ancient
Rome. Soon after this work, Mantegna was
commissioned to paint the private chapel
of Pope Innocent VIII at the Belvedere Pal-
aceinRome.

Mantegna’s late paintings celebrate the
accomplishments of the Gonzaga dynasty.
He paintedLady of Victoryto commemo-
rate the success of Francesco Gonzaga at
the Battle of Fornovo, andParnassus,to
mark the wedding of Francesco to Isabella
d’Este. After his death Mantegna was hon-

ored by Mantua with an imposing funer-

ary monument, a rare honor for an artist

even at the height of the Italian Renais-

sance.

SEEALSO: Bellini, Giovanni; d’Este, Isa-

bella; Gonzaga, House of; Mantua

Mantua ............................................

An influential city in the Renaissance that

came under the control of the Gonzaga

family, among Italy’s leading patrons of

writers, artists, and scholars. Mantua dates

to well before the time of Rome, and was

best known in the Middle Ages as the

birthplace of the Roman poet Virgil. The

city was an independent commune from

the eleventh century but was seized by a

member of the Bonacolsi family in 1273.

The reign of this dynasty brought the city

prosperity until a revolt occurred in 1328,

Andrea Mantegna’s “Crucifixion” from the San Zeno Altarpiece. Christ is crucified among
thieves, while soldiers stand and watch and the Madonna and the apostles mourn.
COR-
BIS.REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.

Mantua