30. The Resurrection of Christ (from the San Zeno Altarpiece), v. 1457–1459. Tempera on panel, 71 × 94 cm. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours.
To help illustrate Mantegna’s own particular contribution to Italian Renaissance art, we can turn to one scene from the predella, the Resurrection of Christ (Fig. 30). Mantegna’s style would become a bit more restrained and controlled in colour and action later in his life, but here his youthful exuberance and ambition are full-blown. In order to gauge the extent of Mantegna’s exciting earliest manner, it is illuminating to examine it with a comparable contemporary version by the central Italian painter Piero della Francesca (Fig. 29). Piero created a Resurrection of Christ in which the forms are heavy, geometric, and weighed down by gravity and by the pyramidal composition. As in the works of the Florentine painter Masaccio, one of his chief sources of inspiration, Piero creates a static, monumental scene that conveys a sense of grandiosity and calm. Mantegna, on the other hand, dazzles with an explosion of energy and excitement. Christ bursts out of his sarcophagus, surrounded by a bright aura of light rays and angels. The soldiers who were supposed to be guarding him react in surprise and horror, and seem to be physically thrown back by Christ’s sudden return from the dead. Trees burst impossibly out of rocks, their roots having broken the substance of the stone in surface patterns, and isolated grasses cling tenaciously to the rocky ground. Christ strikes a confident, virile stance, in form an ancient Roman athlete posing as the Lamb of God.
The Crucifixion (Fig. 28) from the predella of the San Zeno Altarpiece is Mantegna’s striking contribution to the history of the representation of this subject. The space – beginning with the repoussoir device of the soldiers at the bottom of the design area – shoots into the background, as the rocky surface forms a kind of lined piazza. The plateau composition, a device derived from earlier Netherlandish art, comprises an elevated foreground plane, a spatial descent, and a rising background, complete with a distant, winding road and hilltop city. As usual, Mantegna considers every detail. Christ’s body is suspended against the sky, his feet just touching the level of the earth, a prefiguration of his coming Ascension into Heaven. The bad thief, on Christ’s left, is in a contorted pose and is set against the sharp rock formations and brittle branches. The good thief is depicted more fully in the light, is set against the rounded hill, and stands above Mary and other holy mourners. Every anatomical detail of Christ’s and the thieves’ torsos is fully delineated, contributing to the tension of the narrative. The whole work has the feeling of a large scale mural, despite its modest size.
This dynamic narrative style, along with Mantegna’s incisive realism and his abundant use of classical motifs, had won the artist a place in the highest echelons of critical acclaim. He was sought after, but rather than continuing to compete in the open market by seeking various public or private commissions in Padua or elsewhere, he took up the post of court painter in Mantua, a job that would provide a steady, guaranteed income and a chance for him to apply his artistic genius to a wide variety of projects. The twenty-eight-year-old Mantegna set out with his family for Mantua in 1459, probably not suspecting he would stay there until the end of his life nearly half a century later.
31. St Luke Altarpiece, 1453–1454. Tempera on panel, 230 × 177 cm. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
Mantegna as Court Painter in Mantua
32. The Oculus, ceiling, Camera Picta, 1474. Fresco. Ducal Palace, Mantua.
The city-state of Mantua constituted the seventh largest nation in Italy, its lands gained from years of conquest and consolidation. Although many of the Italian city-states had relatively democratic governments when they were first established in the medieval period, only a few places, most notably Florence and Venice, retained anything close to a broadly participatory form of government by the fifteenth century.
Mantua, like the neighbouring duchies of Milan and Ferrara, was ruled by one family, the government held by physical might, moral suasion, and the hope for stability and rulership passed down by hereditary title.
The Bonacolsi family maintained power in Mantua until 1328, when the Gonzaga took over. The overthrow of the Bonacolsi regime by the Gonzaga family was represented later in a dramatic battle painting from 1494.
33. Antonio Pisanello, Portrait Medal of Ludovico Gonzaga, c. 1447. Bronze, diam. 10.2 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
The Gonzaga consolidated their power during the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, so that by Mantegna’s time they were unquestionably in control, with landholdings and fortified castles spread across the territory (Fig. 5).
They held the title of signore, “lord”, until they were proclaimed by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1433 to hold the higher designation of marchese, or marquis in English. The political arrangement in Mantua meant there was a heliocentric regime, consisting of a court and its dependents.
In Padua, Mantegna worked for members of a merchant oligarchy, and he had to answer to the dictates of the painters’ guild; in Mantua, he served the needs of a single, powerful regime.
34. The Oculus (detail), ceiling, Camera Picta, 1474. Fresco. Ducal Palace, Mantua.
35. View of Castle of St. George showing area where Camera Picta and Studiolo were located.
Mantegna entered the post because of the desirable security and prestige it offered. When he went to Mantua in 1459 he was promised transportation for his family (one of his sons, Francesco, would later become a painter and his assistant), a generous salary, and an allowance for food and firewood. He was also honoured by being granted a coat-of-arms of his own. Mantegna’s tasks as court painter were not always lofty ones; he painted major works but also occupied himself with designing drinking cups and carpets. Even the great Leonardo da Vinci, when he became court painter in Milan in the 1480s, was asked to engage in such trivial duties along with his grander projects. The advantage of such a position was great, however, as the regular salary meant court artists did not have to wait for commissions, and they were still free to serve other patrons in different cities, as long as the ruler agreed to let them go, which he often did as a favour to the person requesting the artist’s services. Since Mantegna was a master of the first rank, he was treated and paid far better than the average craftsman. Documents indicate he had a friendly rapport with his noble patrons, although he always maintained a deferential attitude to the Mantua rulers. As a court painter in Mantua, Mantegna had secured an enviable and honourable post of employment.
36. West Wall, called The Meeting, Castle (left detail), Camera Picta, 1465–1474. Fresco. Ducal Palace, Mantua.
37. West Wall, called The Meeting, Camera Picta, 1465–1474. Fresco. Ducal Palace, Mantua.
When Mantegna first arrived in Mantua, he was lodged at a residence provided for him but he eventually built his own house in the city, which still exists (Figs. 55 and 56). Over the years Mantegna acquired several pieces of property in the area which provided income, including farm lands in the outlying areas, and commercial and residential structures in the city. He was able to provide his daughters with substantial dowries, and his estate at the time of his death included property, money, and enough funds to establish a chapel for his family. Mantua was a city of moderate size, about the same as Padua but not nearly as large as nearby Venice. The city was nearly completely surrounded by a lake, making the place a haven for mosquitoes and frogs, although the watery setting embellished Mantua, making it among the most beautiful towns in Italy. Mantegna captured