The painter Andrea Mantegna He was born in the year 1431, in Vicenza, Italy.
When you turn 10 years old, Mantegna starts working in the paint shop of Francesco Squarcione in Padua, already decided on this profession since childhood by showing his natural talent in his drawings.
When he was already 17 years old, he managed to become independent, tired of his artistic talent being appropriated by his maintainer, showing his art by his own means.
In these moments of changes in the life of Andrea, the young man begins to look at Padua, his place of residence, as a place specially designed for his art, he begins to frequent the antique shops of the city, pays special attention to the painting and art of ancient Rome and is shaping his own style .
In this period of his life his first works come to light, which have been carried out in the chapel of San Jaccopo and San Cristoforo de Ovetari, together with Ansuino da Forli.
When the year 1453 arrived, he married the sister of well-known artists called Nicolosia Bellini, who becomes his companion throughout his life.
After a few years of artistic activity, guided and advised by Ludovico gonzaga He moved to Mantua, but it is from this moment that a stage in the artist’s life is marked in which he will work all his life for the family Gonzaga.
In this period he performs many jobs where the most important, “The House of Spouses” in the Palacio Ducal de los Gonzagas where he will also portray the whole family taking the perspective to new frontiers never seen before.
And it is approximately in this period in which the artist still would not have reached the age of 30, that the “Saint Sebastian in Vienna”, a work that exploits its fame throughout Italy; and after his stay in Rome, under the orders of the Pope Innocent VIII, the restoration of different works arises.
Then, shortly after, he returns to Mantua to begin the series of “The Triumph of Caesar”, “The Párnaso” commissioned by Isabel of Este, wonderful works of the artist.
Later, it arrives “The dead Christ”, which is distinguished by marking its own style.
And it is from this moment that the classical human figure will be one of his obsessions, and will reflect in his works perfectly proportioned, solid and highly expressive bodies.
Here the strong influence of Donatello, in this period called “stony”.
He has been flattered by describing him as one of the most important painters of the fifteenth century in northern Italy, a master of perspective and foreshortening, he has been the one who contributed to the development of the compositional techniques of Renaissance painting; and it was thanks to him that some German artists, especially Albrecht dürer, they were able to know the artistic discoveries of the Italian Renaissance.