It was the patrons who funded, enabled, and occasionally directed the movement towards realism and secular subjects, and developed the genres.
Mantegna
An exotic import until the Romans enlisted her support against the Carthaginians, her chariot is drawn by a lion and lioness – who desecrated an old shrine.
With Umberto Eco as our guide, explore Parnassus, the Garden of Earthly Delights, Alcina’s island, Colchis, and the Garden of the Hesperides.
Caesar and Cleopatra in Egypt, the suicide of Cato the Younger, Caesar’s triumphs, and the development of a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar.
Seldom shown in lead roles, superb paintings by masters including Botticelli, Blake, Renoir, and Velázquez, and one strange myth to finish.
Wisdom, crafts including weaving, and warfare, she’s a popular figure in paintings from Mantegna to Klimt, and a contestant in the Judgement of Paris.
Famous for discovering his wife Aphrodite making love with Ares, he is blacksmith to the gods, and selected mortals.
Nine daughters of Mnemosyne representing each division of the classical arts. Paintings from Raphael to Moreau.
Not an illusion as such, it has been used to great effect by a wide range of painters from Mantegna to Munch.
How the Marquis of Mantua overcame the obstinacy of a traditional painter, and gained one of the finest trompes l’ceil in Europe.
