Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini

Lecture 18

In this lecture, we move from Tuscany to the north of Italy—speci¿ cally,

to the north of Italy near the Adriatic.

W

e begin with our focus on two artists in northern Italy, Andrea
Mantegna (1430/31–1506) and Giovanni Bellini. We will look at
several of Mantegna’s works, including both sacred and secular
subjects. Looking at his famous frescoes in the Ducal Palace in Mantua, we
can appreciate the illusionism, in his paintings of the Gonzaga family, that
inÀ uenced artists for centuries to come. Mantegna also inÀ uenced Bellini,
the other subject of this lecture. We will explore two of Bellini’s early works,
Christ on the Mount of Olives and St. Francis in Ecstasy, and contrast them
with those of Mantegna.

Mantegna was born near Padua, close to the Venetian Lagoon and about
20 miles from Venice. Although Padua fell under Venetian control in 1405,
it remained an important artistic center throughout the 15th century. As a
Paduan artist, Mantegna worked in a city steeped in learning and supportive
of the new Humanism of the 15th century.

Many minor artists stand apart from the major styles of their time because
they do not grasp the importance of the developments that are taking place.
But there are also great artists who understand what is important in their
time, appreciate it, participate in its development, and still stand somewhat
apart from it. Andrea Mantegna is one of those unusual artists. Mantegna
is a Renaissance artist. He shared that period’s intellectual and Humanistic
ideals, used the linear perspective system with precision, tapped the Greco-
Roman sources of style, and balanced the secular aspect of Humanism with
the established Christian culture. He is distinguished by his exaggerated
approach to some of these ideas. Mantegna’s foreshortening and perspective
are rigorous and accentuated, and his picture structure is mathematically
analytical. His ¿ gures often look like painted statues. His love of Roman
architectural and sculptural remains was almost obsessive. He incorporated
his archeological “¿ nds” into his painting. His ¿ gures can seem detached,