Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/24

* MANTEGNA. 1488 Pope Innocent VIII. summoned liini to Rome to decorate the Belvedere Chapel, now- destroyed. In 14!I0 he returned to Mantia, where he died Septendier 13, loOti. His last years were darkened by linancial troubles, eonseijuent upon his building a family chapel in the Church of Sant' Andrea. His chief work at Mantua was the decora- tion of the Camera del Sposi, in the Castello di Corte. finished in 1474. Two of the walls and the eeilinij remain. One of these, which is par- tially damaged, is covered with a realistic group of tiie Maniuis.. his wife, and the entire Court. The other shows a meeting of the Manpiis with Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, both attended by relatives. The figures are nearly all in inofilo and still' in action, but intensely realistic' and of moniunental grandeur. The same wall con- tains a hunting scene, somewhat damaged, and a group of beautiful genii holding an inscrip- tion. The ceiling is richly decorated and con- tains a circular dome painted to rei)resent the open sky, with angels and other figures looking over a parapet. Before going to Rome. Mantegna had also begun his nine cartoons, the "Triumph of Cipsar." now in Hampton Court, which ho' finished soon after his return to ilantua. They are drawn on paper in high colors, to represent, as if in bas-relref, a continuous triumphal pro- cession, and were used as hangings. Xo other monument of the fifteenth century shows such knowledge and feeling for the antique. For Isabella of Este, Marchioness of Jlantua, he painted two pictures in the famous chamber which she furnished with paintings by prominent Italian artists, vi/. the "Triumph of Virtue Over Vice" and "I'arnassus," the latter containing groups of graceful classical figures in a romantic landscape. Both are now in the Louvre. Among his other works orf the Mantuan period are: "Saint Sebastian." in the Gallery of Vienna: "Saint George," in the' Academy of Venice; "Summer," "Autumn," and the "Triumph of Scipio," in the National Gallery, London. In later life he painted a large numlier of Madonnas, of which there are good examples in the Ulfizi at Florence, the .Vational Gallery, London, the Dres- den Gallery, and the Trivulzio Collection, Milan. Particularly famous is the "iladonna della Vit- toria" (14!M)), painted in commemoration of a supposed victainter of the Renaissance imderstood anticpie art as did Mantegna. His paintings were its sculptiire transferred to can- vas, and he mastercil completely its decoration. The figures and draperies are sharp and rigid, and his archivology is sometimes more learned than artistic. He was a severe student of na- ture, and an intense realist. His portraits arc full of strength and character, liis ideal fig- ures nolde and grand. No artist of the early Renaissance had greater invention and imagina- tion. His execution was careful, his composi- tion good, and the excellence of his drawing is attested by the finished drawings in the Louvre, British Museum, I'fTizI, ami other collections. As 12 MANTES. a colorist he did not stand on the same high level. All of his work was in tempera ; and his wall paintings, which were painted upon dry plaster, are improperlj' called frescoes. Mantegna was tlic greatest line-engraver of Northern Italy, and his inllucnce upon that art was potent not only in Italy, but in Germany as well. Unlike Italian engravers before him, lie engraved copper plates from his own designs. At first his technique was primitive, but it im- proved with the study of German engravings. In all cases his invention is more interesting than his technique. The best-known plates of his Paduan period are the "Flagellation of Christ," and "Christ at the Gates of Hell;" to tlic Mantuan period belong llie "Resurrection of Christ," "Deposition from the Cross," and En- tombment." This last plate had a greater intlu- ence upon art than any other ever executed. Its composition was adopted by Raphael in his pic- ture of the same name, by Holbein (q.v. ) in the "Basel Passion" series, and the figure of Saint .Tohn was used by Diirer in his "Crucifixion." Mantegna also engraved a number of classical subject;s, the best known of which are two Bac- chanals and two "Battles of Tritons," and sev- eral plates from the "Triimiph of C'^sar." He had a large number of followers who developed his technique and engraved his compositions, the best known of whom was "Jaeopo de' Bar- bari." BibliogRjVPIIY. The sources for the life of Mantegna are chiefly his correspondence and other documents. Consult: Basehet. "D<icuments sur Mantegna." in Gazelle des Bcaux-Arta. vol. XX. (Paris, ISGli). Vasari (q.v.) is unreliable upon Mantegna. The best and most eomi)lete modern authority is Kristeller, Andrea Mint- Icgnn. trans, by Strong (London, 1902). W'olt- mann's biography in Dohme, Kunst U)id Kiinslhr Itithens (Leipzig, 1878), is a scholarly treatise. Crutwell, Mantegna (ib., 1002). is a good brief account, while Cartwright's biography in the "(ircat Artists Series" (London. 1881) is of a popular cliaracter. Consult also the monographs bv Thode (Bielefeld, 1897) and Yriartc (Paris, 1002 ) . MAN'TELL, Gideon Algernon (1700-1852). . eminent British geologist, born at Lewes, in .Sussex. He studied medicine and surgery, but devoted himself chiefly to geology and paleontol- ogy'. His excellent collection of fossils was bought by the British Museum. He carried out investigations concerning the fossils of the Weal- den formations, and discovered the great Dino- saurian rei>tiles. Besides a large number of paiiers in the Philosophical Transactions and the Geological Transactions, ho publislied The ^Von■ dcrs of Oeiilojiy (18.38), and The Medals of- Creatietn (1844). MANTES, mii.Nt. The capital of an arron- disscment in the Department of Seine-et-Oise. France, beautifully situated on the left bank of the Seine. .10 miles west-northwest of Paris by rail (Map: France. H ."?). A twelfth-century bridge crosses the Seine above the town, and modern bridges connect Mantes with an islet in the iSeine. and with Limay on the opposite river bank. The fine Gothic Church of Notre Dame, dating from the twelfth century, occupies the sito of the prior church burned during the siegr of 1087; and there are other ancient bviiMings.