Andrea Mantegna

Andrea Mantegna- The Italian Born Artist

Andrew Mantegna, a famous Italian-born artist, was considered the most famous painter in the Italian Renaissance period. He was the son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini, who was the founder of Renaissance art in Northern Italy. His paintings got very popular those days and gained an amazing response from the people. In this context, we will talk about their earlier and mature period along with his legacy.

 Childhood period of Andrea Mantegna

Andrea Mantegna was born in 1431 near Padua, Isola Di Carturo, in modern Italy. His childhood went through poverty. His father, Biagio, worked as a carpenter and 1442 when Andrea Mantegna was only seven years old. He learned agriculture tasks & sheep tending. After that, the famous Padua painter Francesco Squarcione adopted him. 

 Along with Andrea, he had adopted many other painters who went out on the path of achieving success & fame in the field. He had never achieved the success in his life that he wished for. He was only popular for the attractive collection of Greco-Roman antiquities. He had established a training institution where he had 137 students, taught them about Antique style, and earned the "Father of painting."

  Andrea was counted as one of the favorite students of Francesco's, but at the age of 17, he left the institution and claimed that he had not been paid for his hard work. Francesco had a keen interest in classical antiques and continued this in his overall life. 

 But later, he had gone through many changes and complications for exploiting the older artist. Some of his students said that he had gained profit from the other painters, but later the court ruled the decision in his favor. 

 Early years of Andrea 

 Andrea had a clear and keen interest in the culture of Padua. He loved the art of perspective and the ancient culture of Rome. At the age of 17, I gained every detail of the art and was ready to open a workshop. In his earlier life, he gave all his time to reproduce classical ideas and civilization and gained a lot of knowledge and classical interest over time. 

 He was influenced by the popular painter Jacopo Bellini who had great anatomy and classical approach. He also influenced his artistic skills by Donatello, who has something in his hand & mind that creates spiritualism; his paintings had an impression of harmony that soothes the mind, body, and soul. Mantegna deeply moved in with his works and started drawing this kind of art.

 At the age of seventeen, he had emerged as a painter and started earning a huge commission by selling his paintings. His first commission work was at the Church of Santa Sofia in Padua to paint Madonna's altarpiece. In the year 1449, he began creating frescoes for Ovetari Chapel with the Niccolò Pizzolo's collaboration, the earlier student of Squarcione. Well, this project gave the signal to the demise of the partnership between Pizzolo and Mantegna.

 While working on this project, he became closer to the Bellini family, and later, he married Nicolosia Bellini in 1453 and kept her father's request. They gave birth to three children named Lodovico, Francesco, and Taddea. He had two brothers-in-law named Giovanni Bellini & Gentile Bellini, who helped him a lot in his painting career. They taught them to soften his style & color palette and many more skills that improved Mantegna's artistic career. Because of his father-in-law, Mantegna had built a keen interest in conveying the personality of artistic figures. His interest and knowledge showed in his artworks. 

 He builds many dynamic and recognized portraits highly popularized in the market because of their sharp defined expressions and facial lines. Along with that, he painted many landscapes that held emotional and natural intensity. He did the combination of softer & rigorous approaches that made his work amazing. 

 Later, Mantegna became the chief of the Padua school, where he earned money through creating the scholars' portraits. Besides that, he also worked on many prestigious organizations in Italy and improved his reputation in the art field.

 Mature Period

 For his amazing skills and knowledge, he got the attention of Ludovico III, who was counted as the powerful city-state ruler in Italy. In the year 1457, Mantegna received an offer letter from them, to which he did not respond. He received many more offer letters from Ludovico III with an increased commission, food, and home allowance for the whole family. Finally, Mantegna accepts his offer letter and visit Mantua in the year 1459.

 While working with them, he gained much more knowledge of his background by exploring the classical interest. He had great zeal for antiques that made him popular, and people considered him to date. At this time, he earned 15 Duvcats in a month by the Ludovico. He allowed him to travel worldwide to get innovative ideas and traditions, and culture from other places. In 1478, Ludovico died due to the plague, and Mantegna continued his work for them for a long period; in 1492, he decided to settle in Mantua.

 Death & legacy: 

The later life of Mantegna was not as good as he thought because of the financial crisis and behaviors of his elder son. He had gone through a health crisis, but still, he performed many works till the end of his life. He died in the year 1506 on September 13th, 1506. 

 His interest in the classical style provides a framework for future generations of Italian artists. Every work by him is characterized as a fascination with formal elegance. Overall he set an example for the entire future artist who wants to become an artist.

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