Andrea Mantegna

Paduan, c. 1431 - 1506

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Standing at the entrance of an open tent, a woman holds the severed head of a bearded man over a sack held open by another person in this vertical painting. All the people have pale, ivory-white skin. To our right, Judith, who holds the head, stands with her body angled to our left. She looks back over her shoulder, off to our right, with light brown eyes. She has a long nose, smooth cheeks, and her small, peach-tinged lips are closed. Tightly curled, amber-brown ringlets frame her oval face and fall to her shoulders. Her loose, pearl-white dress, which is almost the color of her skin, falls off one shoulder and is belted just below her bust. A long, ultramarine-blue cloth drapes over one shoulder and arm, and around her body. Open-toed, moss-green sandals peek out from beneath her hem. Her right hand, to our left, grasps a long, straight, iron blade by her hip. The blade has a ridge up along its center, and the tip is cut straight across. She holds up the severed head in her other hand, so that arm crosses her body. The severed head faces away from us so only a sliver of the nose, cheek, and one closed eye are visible. The head has chestnut-brown hair and beard, and the mouth is open wide. To our left, the attendant holding the sack looks down at the head, her face framed by a white cloth that wraps around her head, under her chin, and across her shoulders. She wears a canary-yellow tunic over silvery-gray pants. A red cape drapes over one shoulder and around her body. She is barefoot. The tent is supported by a wooden pole, just beyond and between the pair. The gold-edged, rose-pink flaps of the tent have been pulled back and tied to each side. The interior beyond them is dark but the end of a gold bed draped with white cloth and one bare foot, the sole coming toward us, emerges from the shadows, to our right of Judith. The ground beneath the tent is made of tan, roughly square stones, scattered with pebbles. The peak of the tent rises off the top center of the composition, and the area to each side is midnight blue.
Andrea Mantegna, Giulio Campagnola, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1495/1500, tempera on poplar panel, Widener Collection, 1942.9.42

Judith with the Head of Holofernes

Andrea Mantegna, Giulio Campagnola · c. 1495/1500 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1942.9.42

Andrea Mantegna, Portrait of a Man, c. 1470, tempera on hardboard transferred from canvas transferred from panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.2.5

Portrait of a Man

Andrea Mantegna · c. 1470 · tempera on hardboard transferred from canvas transferred from panel ·  Accession ID  1952.2.5

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.
Andrea Mantegna, The Infant Savior, c. 1460, tempera on canvas, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.67

The Infant Savior

Andrea Mantegna · c. 1460 · tempera on canvas ·  Accession ID  1952.5.67

Italian 15th Century, Andrea Mantegna, The Triumph of Caesar: The Senators, before 1506, engraving in black on laid paper, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund, 1991.178.1

The Triumph of Caesar: The Senators

Italian 15th Century, Andrea Mantegna · before 1506 · engraving in black on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1991.178.1

Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Antonio da Brescia, Virtus Combusta: An Allegory of Virtue, 1500/1505, engraving on laid paper by Giovanni Antonio da Brescia, Gift of W.G. Russell Allen, 1941.1.1

Virtus Combusta: An Allegory of Virtue

Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Antonio da Brescia · 1500/1505 · engraving on laid paper by Giovanni Antonio da Brescia ·  Accession ID  1941.1.1

Andrea Mantegna, Italian 15th Century, Four Dancing Muses, after 1497, engraving on laid paper, Gift of W.G. Russell Allen, 1941.1.10

Four Dancing Muses

Andrea Mantegna, Italian 15th Century · after 1497 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1941.1.10

Andrea Mantegna, Italian 15th Century, Four Dancing Muses, after 1497, engraving on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.5769

Four Dancing Muses

Andrea Mantegna, Italian 15th Century · after 1497 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1943.3.5769

Italian 15th Century, Andrea Mantegna, The Adoration of the Magi (Virgin in the Grotto), c. 1500, engraving on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.1329

The Adoration of the Magi (Virgin in the Grotto)

Italian 15th Century, Andrea Mantegna · c. 1500 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1943.3.1329

Italian 15th Century, Andrea Mantegna, The Triumph of Caesar: The Elephants, c. 1497/1498, engraving on laid paper, Andrew W. Mellon Fund, 1976.11.1

The Triumph of Caesar: The Elephants

Italian 15th Century, Andrea Mantegna · c. 1497/1498 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1976.11.1

Andrea Mantegna, The Triumph of Caesar: Soldiers Carrying Trophies, c. 1497/1498, engraving on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.5771

The Triumph of Caesar: Soldiers Carrying Trophies

Andrea Mantegna · c. 1497/1498 · engraving on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1943.3.5771

Bibliography

1986

  • Lightbown, Ronald. Mantegna. Oxford, 1986.

1996

  • Finaldi, Gabriele. "Andrea Mantegna." In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 20:304-316.

2003

  • Boskovits, Miklós, and David Alan Brown, et al. Italian Paintings of the Fifteenth Century. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 2003: 428.