The Infant Savior

c. 1460

Andrea Mantegna

Artist, Paduan, c. 1431 - 1506

Nearly filling this vertical painting, a young, light-skinned child stands with a delicate scepter tucked into one elbow as he holds up his other hand with the first two fingers raised. The child is lit from our left, but the overall tone of the painting is shadowy and dark. His body faces us, and he looks off to our right with round, deeply shaded eyes. He has short blond hair and a tall forehead, chubby cheeks, and his bow lips are parted. Short, gold rays emanate from the sides and top of his head within a thin gold band to create a halo. He wears a thigh-length, white tunic, and more of that fabric is wrapped around his torso. His dark, burgundy-red cape falls open across his shoulders and down to his calves, and is edged with gold around the collar and down the front. A rectangular, jewel-encrusted gold clasp holds it closed at the throat. He stands with most of his weight on his left leg, to our right, on bare feet. His right hand, to our left, is raised to his chest with the first two fingers extended up. The delicate silver scepter he holds with his other hand is topped with a cross. Swirling patches of muted brick red, harvest yellow, pine green, and off white behind him could be a tapestry. A thin, dark band creates a border around the edges of the painting.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 13

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 70.2 x 34.3 cm (27 5/8 x 13 1/2 in.)
    framed: 86.4 x 51.4 x 7 cm (34 x 20 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1952.5.67

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Sir Francis Cook, 1st bt. [1817-1901], Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, by 1901;[1] by inheritance to his son, Sir Frederick Lucas Cook, 2nd bt. [1844-1920], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Herbert Frederick Cook, 3rd bt. [1868-1939], Doughty House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook, 4th bt. [1907-1978], Doughty House, and Cothay Manor, Somerset; sold June or July 1947 to (Gualtiero Volterra, London) for (Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, Florence);[2] sold July 1948 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1952 to NGA.
[1] Paul Kristeller, Andrea Mantegna, English ed. by S. Arthur Strong, London, 1901: 455; German ed., Berlin, 1902: 476.
[2] See letter of 8 July 1947 from H.J. Wasbrough, one of the Cook collection trustees, to A.J. Shanly, the collection's caretaker (copy in NGA curatorial files, from the Cook Collection Archive in care of John Somerville, England). Volterra was Contini Bonacossi's agent in London.
[3] The Kress Foundation made an offer to Contini Bonacossi on 7 June 1948 for a group of twenty-eight paintings, including the Mantegna; the offer was accepted on 11 July 1948 (see copies of correspondence in NGA curatorial files, see also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2203).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1961

  • Andrea Mantegna, Royal Academy of Arts, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1992, no. 15, repro., as The Infant Redeemer.

2006

  • Andrea Mantegna e le Arti a Verona, 1450-1500, Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Verona, 2006-2007, no. 12, repro.

Bibliography

1951

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 68, no. 23, repro.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 132, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 82.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 73, repro.

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 25, fig. 58.

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:242.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 214, repro.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:298-299; 2:pl. 212.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 114, no. 94, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 249, repro.

1992

  • Boorsch, Suzanne, et al. Andrea Mantegna. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. London and Milan, 1992: 15.

1995

  • Halpine, Susana M. "An Investigation of Artists' Materials Using Amino Acid Analysis: Introduction of the One-Hour Extraction Method." Studies in the History of Art 51 (1995): 48-53, 61, repro. no. 11.

1996

  • Symposium, Early Italian Paintings Techniques and Analysis, Maastricht, 1996: 81, repro.

1998

  • Batzner, Nike. Andrea Mantegna, 1430/31-1506. Konemann, 1998: repro. no. 59.

2001

  • Paul, Tatjana. Mantegna: il sogno dell'antico, l'oro della corte. Art Book 34. Milan, 2001: 35 repro.

2003

  • Boskovits, Miklós, David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2003: 428-431, color repro.

2004

  • Salmazo, Alberta De Nicolò. Andrea Mantegna. Milan, 2004: 160, 244, fig. 37.

2013

  • Lucco, Mauro. Mantegna. Milan, 2013: 182, 185, fig. 3, as Infant Christ Blessing.

2020

  • Campbell, Stephen J. Andrea Mantegna: Humanist Aesthetics, Faith, and the Force of Images. Turnhout, 2020: 72-74, fig. 2.21.

Wikidata ID

Q3761425

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