Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

The Renaissance painter’s daring experimen-

talism led him to complete the room’s decoration

with the first perspective of a ceiling (FIG. 21-48)

seen from below (called, in Italian,di sotto in sù,

“from below upward”). Baroque ceiling decora-

tors later broadly developed this technique. Inside

the Camera Picta, the viewer becomes the viewed

as figures look down into the room from the

painted oculus(“eye”). Seen against the convinc-

ing illusion of a cloud-filled blue sky, several putti

(cupids), strongly foreshortened, set the amorous

mood of the Room of the Newlyweds, as the

painted spectators (who are not identified) smile

down on the scene. The prominent peacock is an

attribute of Juno, Jupiter’s bride, who oversees

lawful marriages. This brilliant feat of illusionism

climaxes almost a century of experimentation

with perspective.

The Princely Courts 575

21-48Andrea Mantegna, ceiling of the Camera

Picta (Painted Chamber), Palazzo Ducale, Mantua,

Italy, 1465–1474. Fresco, 8 9 in diameter.

Inside the Camera Picta, the viewer becomes the

viewed as figures look down into the room from a

painted oculus opening onto a blue sky. This is the

first perspectival view of a ceiling from below.

1 ft.

21-47Andrea Mantegna, interior of the Camera Picta (Painted Chamber), Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy, 1465–1474.

Working for Ludovico Gonzaga, who established Mantua as a great art city, Mantegna produced for the duke’s palace the first completely consistent

illusionistic fresco decoration of an entire room.