Andrea Mantegna’s innovative altarpiece for the Basilica…

Andrea Mantegna’s innovative altarpiece for the Basilica di San Zeno in Verona, executed from 1456 to 1459, contains one of the first Italian versions of the enthroned Madonna format, in which patron saints flank the enthroned Madonna and child.

The figures in this and other early paintings appear to be sharply chiseled out of stone, their precisely detailed features and garments highlighted in vivid contrasts of red, yellow, and blue.

The entire composition is full of detail referring to classical Antiquity: the frieze with the angels which hold two garlands or the throne, which reminds the viewer of a sarcophagus.

The frame, probably designed by Mantegna himself, is the original one.