Paris: Grant Allen's Historical GuidesAllen, Grant
History
Paris: Grant Allen's Historical Guides
Allen, Grant
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- Guidebooks
Mantegna, indeed, imitated an older type, which he made his
own, and reproduced like a portrait. Note that St. Andrew bears a cross
as his symbol.
On the other side of the Madonna, =St. Elizabeth= kneels in the
foreground, representing, I think, the patron saint of the Marchesa,
Gonzaga’s wife, who was Isabella d’Este, sister of Duke Alfonso of
Ferrara. (Isabella and Elisabeth are always regarded as variants of the
same name.) Now in the chapel of St. Longinus in the church of St.
Andrea at Mantua, aforesaid, where Mantegna is buried, he also painted a
Madonna, with this same St. Elizabeth, holding the infant St. John
Baptist, while the child Christ blesses him: no doubt a votive offering
from Isabella. Here again we have a type of St. Elizabeth repeated in
this picture. Behind St. Elizabeth stands the exquisitely wistful =St.
George=, the patron saint of the Venetian territory, representing the
part borne by Venice and her dependencies in the war of expulsion: the
patron receives the thanks of his faithful votaries. (Mrs. Jameson
thinks this figure is St. Maurice, another military saint, and patron of
Mantua: comparison with various St. Georges and St. Maurices elsewhere
makes me disagree with her. Besides, St. George’s lance is often broken,
as here: you can note it so in the Raphael of the Long Gallery.) In the
background stands =St. Longinus=, a Roman soldier, distinguishable by
his lance and antique helmet. According to tradition, Longinus was the
centurion who pierced the side of Christ: you see him so in the famous
Rubens (called the Coup de Lance) at Antwerp, and in almost every
mediæval Crucifixion or Calvary. (Look out for him in future.) When he
saw the wonders which accompanied the Passion, we are told in scripture
that he exclaimed, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” Later legend
made him be converted, after being afflicted with sudden blindness, and
undergo a singular voluntary martyrdom. His relics were brought to
Mantua in the 11th century, and he has ever since been the chief patron
saint of that city. Mantegna painted him often, and sometimes made a
type of him. In the picture already described in the chapel of St.
Longinus, he answers, as here, to St. Andrew, and wears a classical
costume, on which the painter has lavished his usual care and minute
accuracy of drawing. Notice him also in the foreground of Mantegna’s
Crucifixion in the Salon Carré, bearing his spear—where, however, the
type is not followed as usual. Thus not one of the characters grouped
around the Madonna in this exquisite picture is without its full
relevancy and meaning.
Do not overlook in this military votive offering the preponderance of
soldier saints, and their appearance under arms, to commemorate the
victory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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