Battle of the Sea Gods [left half]

before 1481

Andrea Mantegna

Associated Names
Andrea Mantegna

Artist, Paduan, c. 1431 - 1506

This print is a depiction of mythological creatures and muscular humans engaged in combat amidst swirling waves. On the left are two men riding horses with fins and the tails of fish. The men both have leaf-like hair and curved, pointed ears. The man on the right wears a billowing cloak and holds a long rod towards the other man. The man on the left is nude and holds a bundle of fish above his head. On the far left, another nude man rides a creature with fins, a tail, and the head of a dog, its mouth wide open. This man holds a long staff and looks off towards the left. A nude woman stands behind him on the creature, holding a bunch of cloth in her right hand and a small sign in her left hand. She is thin, with long, curling hair and a wrinkled face, and she looks to the right towards the two fighting men. In the background are tall reeds or grass, a statue of a man holding a trident, and a distant city on a hill.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of W.G. Russell Allen

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 27 x 40.4 cm (10 5/8 x 15 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1941.1.6

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hind 'Engravings', Vol. 5, p.15, no. 5, State only


Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1983

  • Graphic Survey Show, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 1983.

Bibliography

1938

  • Hind, Arthur M. Early Italian Engraving; a critical catalogue with complete reproductions of all the prints described. 7 vols. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd., 1938-1948.

1973

  • Levenson et al. 1973, no.75 (a).

1995

  • Luchs, Alison. Tullio Lombardo and Ideal Portrait Sculpture in Renaissance Venice, 1490-1530. Cambridge, England, and New York, 1995: 35, 50, 230, fig. 44.

Wikidata ID

Q64952839

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