Andrea Mantegna

Andrea Mantegna's paintings combine precise drawing with a close study of classical forms and constructed space. In the San Zeno Altarpiece, painted architecture helps unite the sacred figures within a coherent setting. The Camera Picta in Mantua extends this interest into the decoration of a room for the Gonzaga court, using painted figures and architecture to alter its apparent space. Other works, including the Crucifixion and Saint Sebastian, give bodies and drapery a strongly defined presence. His Triumphs of Caesar, a sequence of nine large canvases, imagines an ancient Roman victory procession through crowds, musicians, captives, and ceremonial objects. Made while he served the Gonzaga in Mantua, the series draws on ancient writings and the forms of Roman reliefs and triumphal arches, connecting close study of antiquity with courtly decoration.