San Zeno Altarpiece
Artist: Andrea Mantegna
1457-60
Painting
This altarpiece depicts six separate scenes, central amongst them the sacra conversazione, in which saints surround the Madonna and Child. The bottom three panels present, from left to right, the agony in the garden, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. The frame of the altarpiece mimics the facade of an ancient Greek temple, painted gold, with the illustrations framed by Corinthian-style pillars. The scene is thus positioned, as it were, within the space of the temple, with the illusion of the pillars receding behind the frame. The backgrounds of the panels are also decorated to suggest the interior of the temple. The dominant colors used are red and gold, with hints of green, forming a tonally harmonious scene orientated around the central figures of holy mother and child, who meet the viewer's gaze as the peripheral figures stare in various opposing directions.
This tempera on panel in in the Basilica di San Zeno, Verona, Italy
Santa Croce Crucifix
Artist: Donatello
1408
Sculpture
One of the earliest surviving works from Donatello is titled Santa Croce Crucifix. This work was created by the artist during his early life while he was still studying the art of sculpture in Rome. It’s a depiction of a crucified Christ hanging on a cross, his arms outstretched and nails driven through his hands and feet.
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