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

View of the south and east walls

1465-74
Walnut oil on plaster
Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua

The south and east walls of the Camera degli Sposi have no pictures. These are painted with drapery in gold brocade. Large purchases of gold leaf in the spring of 1474 - four thousand sheets in all - can only be linked to these two walls, inasmuch as the ceiling, which also exhibits a lavish use of gold, had long since been finished.