MANTEGNA, Andrea
(b. 1431, Isola di Cartura, d. 1506, Mantova)

The Meeting

1471-74
Walnut oil on plaster
Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua

The narrative content of the Meeting anticipates the event depicted on the north wall, for here the letter that Ludovico will later open is being delivered. In this scene Mantegna combines portraiture, the almost archaeological reconstruction of an ancient city, and a highly-specified, convincing landscape.