The small blue-mantled “Madonna” of Bergamo, and a good portrait of a Gonzaga in the same collection, may have been painted towards the close of the century, to which period the engravings of the “Triumphs” and several other subjects are assigned. Finally, among the labours which occupied the last months of 1499, was the commission to design a monument of Virgil for the chief square of Mantua. The plan originated with the Marchioness Isabella, who consulted the learned Latinists, Pontanus and Vergerius, at Naples, as to the best mode of carrying her scheme into effect. They suggested Mantegna as the natural person to furnish a design for the monument, and he entered warmly into a project so well suited to the spirit of the age. We can hardly imagine a commission more congenial to a painter so imbued with Latin traditions as Mantegna, and the statue which he designed was worthy of the occasion, as the drawing recently discovered in the collection of M. His de la Salle abundantly proves. Virgil is represented crowned with laurel and holding the Æneid in his hands, while winged boys on the pedestal at his feet support a tablet with the words:— “P. Vergilii Maronis a æternæ sui memoriæ imago.” Unfortunately, Andrea never had the satisfaction of seeing this design executed in bronze or marble. Whether Francesco’s treasures were expended in wars, or whether Isabella’s intention was only a caprice of the moment, the scheme was abandoned, and Mantua remained without a monument of her greatest son. [Illustration] CHAPTER VI. LAST WORKS AND DEATH: HIS INFLUENCE ON ART, 1500-1506.