Masterpieces from the World's Museums in the Hermitage. Two paintings by Andrea Mantegna from Italian collections

On 11 July 2006 the Hermitage marked the 500th anniversary of the death of the outstanding Italian artist of the Early Renaissance period Andrea Mantegna by opening an exhibition of his paintings in the Italian Cabinets (Room 231) within the series entitled Masterpieces of the World Museums in the Hermitage.

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506) was a fervent admirer of the civilization of Ancient Rome and this exerted a special influence on his art. Brilliant compositions, innovative use of perspective and an abundance of details from Antiquity are typical features of Mantegna's oeuvre. When he was still only 17 years old, he had already made a series of frescoes in the Church of the Eremitani in Padua, near where he was born. He spent the greater part of his life in Mantua as painter to the court of the Gonzagas, who were the rulers of the city.

In the cities of Padua, Verona and Mantua, where Mantegna lived and created his most significant works, three exhibitions dedicated to the artist and presenting his most outstanding pieces will open in September under the patronage of the Ministry for Initiatives and Objects of Culture. Just prior to this event, the Hermitage is putting on display two works by Mantegna from Italian collections: Christ, the Savior (from the Municipal Museum of Corregio) and the Holy Family with St Elizabeth, St John the Baptist as a Child and Zecharia (Mantua).

Judging by its small dimensions, Christ, the Savior (1493) was intended for use in a home chapel or as a gift to some religious brotherhood. The canvas belongs to the late period of Mantegna's work and both in terms of expressiveness and emotional force one may place it among the artist's masterpieces.

The Holy Family with St. Elizabeth, St John the Baptist as a Child and Zecharia (1504-1506) has been sent to the Hermitage from the chapel of St. John the Baptist in the Basilica di Sant' Andrea (Mantua) which Montegna especially acquired and where he was entombed in keeping with instructions in his will.

The exhibition opening in the Hermitage is particularly noteworthy given that there are no works by Andrea Mantegna either in the Hermitage collection or anywhere else in Russia.

The curator of the exhibition is T.K. Kustodieva, leading researcher in the Department of History of Western European Art and doctor of art history.

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Tatiana Kustodieva, Curator of the exhibition

Vittorio Sgarbi, President of the National Committee for the Fifth Centenary Celebrations of Andrea Mantegna's Death

At the opening ceremony of the exhibition

The exhibition catalogue