Andrea Mantegna, The Dead Christ, c1490-1501, 
tempera on canvas 20"x31" 

Giotto, The Lamentation, c1305 Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy
Andrea Mantegna, 
The Dead Christ, c1490-1501, 
tempera on canvas 20"x31" 

In a letter written on October 2, 1506 to the Duke of Mantua, Ludovico Mantegna mentioned a "Christ in foreshortening" among the works left by his father. It probably dates to the 1470s. In that case it must have remained in Mantegna's studio for a long time, and may have been intended for his funeral. In fact it was shown at the head of his catafalque when he died. Subsequently it was acquired by Cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga, and it entered the Brera in 1824.

foreshortening

The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion, 
by Leo Steinberg

 
 

 


Giotto, The Lamentation, c1305 Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy



 
 

Mantegna, Camera Picta (Camera degli Sposi) Ducal Palace, Mantua, Italy. 1474
 Mantegna, Camera Picta (Camera degli Sposi) Ducal Palace, Mantua, Italy. 1474

Mantegna was invited as the court painter of the Marchese, Ludovico Gonzaga II, in 1456 when the artist was 25 and working in Padua (Padova).  Mantegna was already working on a variety of commissions and began additional work on some Gonzaga owned palaces before finally relocating to Mantua in 1460.

After moving to Mantua Mantegna worked on a variety of other projects for the Gonzaga before starting painting the fresco cycle in the Camera degli Sposi in 1465. Originally the bedroom of Ludovico Gonzaga II, it was later used as a private audience room.  Later it was abandoned and required restoration.  

The room is just over 26' square (8 m) and the fresco above is a detail of the "oculus" which is an especially charming element painted on the ceiling.  Here Mantegna has used foreshortening to great effect, it is as if the ceiling really has opened up to the sky and a group of people and plump cherubs are looking down at us.  The shapes in the railing are particularly convincing as he has used perspective in a very sophisticated way.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

"Arrival of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga," 
fresco by Andrea Mantegna, completed 1474

 


According to the Brittanica, 

sotto in su 

(Italian: "from below to above"), in drawing and painting, extreme foreshortening of figures painted on a ceiling or other high surface so as to give the illusion that the figures are suspended in air above the viewer. It is an approach that was especially favoured by Baroque and Rococo painters, particularly in Italy, in the 17th and 18th centuries.