8/30/2023 0 Comments Mantegna descent into limboGiovanni Bellini, Doge Leonardo Loredan, about 1501-2, © The National Gallery, London Andrea Mantegna, Cardinal Ludovico Trevisan, 1459–60, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie – Photo Jörg P. It is difficult not to look individually at a painting as exquisite as the Doge Leonardo Loredan. Andrea Mantegna, Minerva expelling the Vices from the Garden of Virtue, about 1500–2, Musée du Louvre © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) – Gérard Blot Giovanni Bellini, with later additions by Dosso Dossi and Titian, The Feast of the Gods, 1514–29, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.Īs we get to the last room the show redeems itself, the portraits by both artists have nothing in common and finally our brain tired by constant comparing and contrasting is able to look at them individually. There is not much similarity to find, we are looking at works of two independent artists, who created their own individual style and did not even compete. As time passes and the artists’ relationship loosens, those differences grow, and the goal of the exhibition becomes a bit blurry. However, as we progress to further rooms the differences are obvious, I caught myself repeating the same adjectives over and over: sculptural, sharp, harsh, emotional, detailed, soft, sensitive, broad, metaphorical. Andrea Mantegna, The Descent of Christ into Limbo, probably about 1492, Private collection Giovanni Bellini, The Descent of Christ into Limbo, 1475–80, © Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, UK – Bridgeman Images It is fascinating initially, the three versions of Descent into Limbo kept me in place for a while. As the first room sets us in the frame of mind to look for differences and similarities, we are not looking at the works in their own right, they exist in this environment only in a relationship to one another. The problem arises probably as soon as room three and escalates from there. In the first few rooms, the paintings are interspersed with graphics, which helps to create a rhythm of interacting with them but may be challenging if you visit at a busy time. This way we get a glimpse of their oeuvre that should allow us to understand the relationship between them. They cover religious paintings of both artists, then move on to their interests in antiquity, landscape and finish with portraits. The subsequent rooms are organized by topic, but also loosely follow the chronology. Giovanni Bellini, The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, about 1470–5, © Fondazione Querini Stampalia Onlus, Venezia Andrea Mantegna, The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, about 1454, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin We are tempted to find the ten differences, but once found, those differences, that are extremely subtle in this pair of paintings, will come back to us a lot stronger in the next rooms. We enter a dark space with early paintings by both artists, the most interesting being a pair of Presentations at the Temple. The first room, as space, is specifically designed to provide the initial proverbial earthquake starting the show. The exhibition is situated in the Sainsbury Wing temporary exhibition space, so the layout is no surprise to those that have been here before. The artists were bound by family ties, Bellini’s sister married Mantegna in 1453, they were also both influenced by Jacopo Bellini while they were still developing as artists. From about 1490 Mantegna employed Antonio da Brescia to engrave copies to satisfy this demand for them - included among these is a variation of this composition.With this exhibition, the National Gallery in London aims to explore the artistic relationship between Andrea Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini. Collectors accepted prints taken from drawings as originals to be prized in their own right. Whether this print was engraved by Mantegna or someone working from his drawings, it reflects a new practice of artists reproducing their drawings in print. The attribution of this work to Mantegna himself is based on comparison between the preparatory drawing and print, showing how changes to the design were engraved directly onto the plate without preparation. This print is among those that some scholars include in an expanded list of works engraved by Mantegna himself. From 1475 Mantegna is known to have been looking for a professional engraver to work for him, but one is not known of until the 1490s. There has been some debate about whether Mantegna engraved more than the seven works usually assigned to him, or even whether he engraved any himself. It also shows Mantegna's interest in rock formations, which he studied from nature. The composition is famous for the unusual placement of the figure of Christ, with his back to the viewer as he enters into Limbo.
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