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

Scenes from the Life of St Christopher (scenes 5 and 6)

1448-57
Fresco
Cappella Ovetari, Chiesa degli Eremitani, Padua

The two scenes at the lower section of the right wall of the chapel, depicting the Martyrdom of St Christopher and Removal of his Body, are shown in their present state above. Below are two copies probably made shortly after the frescoes were completed. The copies (tempera on wood transferred to canvas, each 51 x 51 cm) are in the Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris. To the left can be seen the huge figure of St Christopher, almost totally lost in the original fresco. He and the small boy to the right are standing partially outside the decorative framework of the fresco, intermediaries between the viewer's space and the narrative of the fresco.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.