Andrea Mantegna, “Parnassus (Mars and Venus)”. Detail, 1496-1497, Tempera and Gold on Canvas, Musee du Louvre, Paris

Born in Isola di Carturo in the Venetian Republic, Andrea Mantegna was an Italian painter, a student of Roman Archeology, and the son-in-law of Jacopo Bellinin, one of the founders of the Renaissance style of painting. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective in his works, lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality. His flinty, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony figures give evidence of his fundamentally sculptural approach to painting. Mantegna also led a workshop that was the leading producer of Venetinan prints before 1500.

In terms of Classical taste, Mantegna distanced all contemporary competition. Though substantially related to the 15th century, his influence on the style and trends of his age was very marked over Italian art generally. Giovanni Bellini, in his early works, and Albrecht Durer, in his engravings, were influenced by Mantegna’s style.

Mantegna’s main legacy in considered the introduction of spatial illusionism, both in frescoes and in paintings of the Virgin Mary and child in informal group setttings. Mantegna’s tradition of ceiling decoration was followed for almost three centuries. Starting from the faint cupola of the Camera deli Sposi, Antonio da Correggio, a student of Mantegna, built perspective constructions based on the research of his master, eventually producing a masterwork like the dome of Cathedral of Parma, in Majorca, Spain.