Andrea Mantegna was born around 1431 at Isola di Carturo, a settlement near Padua. He came from relatively modest circumstances, but his artistic ability became evident at an early age.
As a boy Mantegna entered the workshop of Francesco Squarcione in Padua. Squarcione maintained a collection of drawings and objects associated with classical antiquity, and this environment helped stimulate Mantegna's lifelong fascination with the ancient world.
The relationship between Mantegna and Squarcione eventually deteriorated. Mantegna sought legal independence from his teacher and established himself as an artist in his own right.
In 1448 Mantegna received an important commission to participate in the fresco decoration of the Ovetari Chapel in the church of the Eremitani at Padua. The project helped establish his reputation.
Much of the Ovetari cycle was destroyed during the Second World War. Surviving fragments and photographs nevertheless preserve important evidence of Mantegna's early development.
Padua provided an especially stimulating environment for the young painter. The sculptor Donatello worked there during this period, and Mantegna's figures reveal a related interest in bodily volume and the visual authority of ancient sculpture.
In 1453 Mantegna married Nicolosia Bellini, daughter of the Venetian painter Jacopo Bellini and sister of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini. The marriage connected him with one of the most important artistic families in Venice.
During the later 1450s Mantegna created the great San Zeno Altarpiece for the church of San Zeno in Verona. Its architectural setting and monumental figures demonstrate his mature engagement with perspective and classical forms.
The predella of the altarpiece presented episodes from the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. These included Christ praying in the garden, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection.
In 1460 Mantegna moved to Mantua to enter the service of the Gonzaga family. He remained associated with the Gonzaga court for the rest of his life.
As court artist Mantegna produced religious paintings, portraits, decorative schemes, and works celebrating the Gonzaga dynasty. His position also brought him into contact with scholars and humanists who shared his interest in classical antiquity.
His celebrated decoration of the Camera degli Sposi in the Ducal Palace at Mantua demonstrates his mastery of illusionistic painting. Architecture and figures appear to extend beyond the actual limits of the room.
Mantegna also produced designs for engravings or worked closely with engravers who reproduced his compositions. Prints helped circulate his imagery and increased his influence beyond the courts and churches for which his paintings were made.
His fascination with antiquity reached a monumental scale in the series known as the Triumphs of Caesar. Roman soldiers, captives, trophies, animals, and antiquities form an elaborate reconstruction of an ancient triumphal procession.
Biblical subjects nevertheless remained important throughout his career. Late paintings continued to explore the Virgin and Christ Child, the Passion, and other sacred themes.
Mantegna died in Mantua in September 1506. His combination of archaeological imagination, perspective, sculptural form, and dramatic biblical narrative exerted a substantial influence upon Renaissance art.