Italian, 'Bust Portrait of Andrea Mantegna', about 1880
About the work
Overview
This portrait bust of the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506) was made around 1880, and presented to the National Gallery three years later by the British collector Henry Vaughan.
The bust is made of plaster of Paris with a ‘bronzed’ finish. It is one of an edition of casts that were made of the high-relief bronze bust of Mantegna that serves as the artist’s memorial in his funeral chapel in Sant'Andrea, Mantua. The memorial was probably designed by Mantegna himself, who may have also modelled the bust and cast it in bronze. However, other artists – including Mantegna’s friend, the medallist, sculptor and goldsmith Gian Marco Cavalli – have also been proposed.
The original bust is mounted before a red porphyry disc set within a decoratively carved circular marble frame. The eyes were said to have been originally inlaid with diamonds.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Bust Portrait of Andrea Mantegna
- Artist
- Italian
- Date made
- about 1880
- Medium and support
- plaster, probably cast, and bronzed
- Dimensions
- 75 × 75 × 20 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Henry Vaughan, 1883
- Inventory number
- NG2250
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
-
1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.