PARIS - Drawing on its remarkable collection of Andrea Mantegna’s ( 1431-1506 ) paintings (by far the largest outside Italy), completed by exceptional loans from other French and international collections, the Louvre has mounted France’s first major retrospective of this foremost Renaissance artist. On exhibition 26th September through 5th January, 2009.

The exhibition endeavours to trace the main stages of Mantegna’s career, through works in different techniques. It recalls the influences that marked his production and how rapidly his reputation spread.

Works of spectacular size or with stunning effects of perspective are shown alongside those with extremely refined handling or more intimate subjects. Such is the paradoxical nature of this artist whose austerity and erudition should not distract spectators from his genuine sensitivity, his gift for observation and the poetic vein evident in his works often tinged with melancholy and sometimes humour as well.

This exhibition is organized by the Louvre and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. This exhibition is made possible thanks to the generous support of Eni and Deloitte.

Curator(s) : Dominique Thiébaut, Curator in Charge, Department of Paintings, Musée du Louvre and Giovanni Agosti, Professor of Modern Art History, Università Statale di Milano.

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