Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – 1506)

• Was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Roman archeology.
• Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality.
• He also led a workshop that was the leading producer of prints in Venice before 1500.
• He was the second son of a carpenter, Biagio.
• Mantegna's first work, now lost, was an altarpiece for the church of Santa Sofia in 1448.
• The same year he was called, together with Nicolò Pizolo, to work with a large group of painters entrusted with the decoration of the Ovetari Chapel in the transept of the Sant'Agostino degli Eremitani.
• As the young artist progressed in his work, he came under the influence of Jacopo Bellini,  and met his daughter Nicolosia.
• In 1453 Jacopo consented to a marriage between Nicolosia and Mantegna.
• The displayed painting is a crop from Andrea Mantegna, The Virgin and Child with Infant Saint John the Baptist and Six Female Saints, about 1497-1500.
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