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02-06-2026
Mantegna, Andrea

Isola di Carturo, currently Isola Mantegna (Italy), 1430 - Mantua (Italiy), 1506

Mantegna, Andrea See author's file

The Death of the Virgin

Ca. 1462. Mixed method on panel.
Room 056B

Andrea Mantegna, one of the great figures of the Quattrocento, trained in Padua with the painter and antiquarian Francesco Squarzione, who instilled an interest in antiquity in the young Mantegna subsequently strengthened by his contact with the humanists of the University of Padua. This fascination for classical art –which was unparalleled amongst his peers–, his knowledge of Donatello´s work in Padua and his connexion with Venetian painting (in 1453, he married Jacopo Bellini´s daughter) encompasses Mantegna´s training and early professional career. In 1459, Mantegna left Padua and moved to Mantua, where he remained until his death under the service of the Gonzaga family. Among the first works he produced for Ludovico Gonzaga is The Death of the Virgin, one of his finest creations despite the fact that its upper third is missing. This fragment, together with Christ Receiving the Virgin, is kept in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Ferrara.

According to the Apocryphal Gospels, after Saint Michael announced her earthly end, the Virgin summoned the apostles. All attended to her call except for Saint Thomas, who was preaching in India. The image shows Mary´s last earthly moment in a composition modelled on a mosaic in San Marco, Venice, designed by Andrea del Castagno. The setting of the scene in a vaulted room, taken from drawings by his father-in-law, Jacopo Bellini, is also of Venetian origin. In the centre of the composition, Saint Peter officiates reading from a missal. One of the apostles holds holy water in one hand and blesses the Virgin with the other, under the gaze of another apostle. A fourth apostle with his back turned releases incense over Mary´s body. The others line up in two rows in front of the Virgin. All but Saint John (the first on the left with a palm branch) carry candles and sing Exiit Israel de Aegypto, Alleluia, as recorded in the Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine.

The perfection of its composition makes The Death of the Virgin a masterpiece, the skilled contrast of horizontals (the window and the Virgin´s deathbed) and verticals (the apostles and the pilasters); its mastery of perspective; the individualisation of the visages of the apostles; and the accomplished treatment of the landscape all marking the painting out as a masterwork. This is one of the first topographical views in Italian painting: the lake around Mantua, the bridge that crosses it, and the Borgo di San Giorgio glimpsed in the background.

This work was acquired for Felipe IV (1605-1665) at the auction of King Charles I of England, who had acquired it from the Gonzaga family. It entered the Prado Museum in 1829.

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Inventory number
P000248
Author
Mantegna, Andrea
Title
The Death of the Virgin
Date
Ca. 1462
Technique
Mixed method
Support
Panel
Dimension
Height: 54.5 cm; Width: 42 cm; Depth: 0.7 cm
Provenance
Commonwealth Sale (Charles I´s collection), 1649-1654); Royal Collection (New Royal Palace, Madrid, “primera pieza de la obra nueva”, 1794, nº 341; Royal Palace, Madrid, “primera pieza de la obra nueva”, 1814-1818, nº 341).
Entry date
1829

Bibliography +

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Other inventories +

Inv. Felipe V, Buen Retiro, 1747. Núm. ¿346?.
PINTURAS ENTREGADAS en dichas Casas Arzobispales a don Santiago de Bonavia [...] {11303} 346 / Vna tabla de dos tercias de alto y media vara de ancho del Transito de la Virgen escuela de Luca de Olanda en dos mil reales

Inv. Testamentaría Carlos III, Palacio Nuevo, 1794. Núm. 341.
Primera Pieza de la Obra nueva [...] {274} 341 / Dos tercias escasas de alto y media vara de ancho. El Transito de nra. Señora

Inv. Fernando VII, Palacio Nuevo, 1814-1818. Núm. 341.
Primera pieza de la obra nueva [...] {21305} 341 / dos tercias escasas alto media vara ancho El Transito de Nra. Sra

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1854-1858. Núm. 887.

Inv. Real Museo, 1857. Núm. 887.
Mantegna (Andres). / 887. El transito de la Virgen. / Se ve a nuestra señora tendida en el lecho mortuorio, rodeada de los apostoles que forman dos filas cantando loores al señor. (tabla.) / Alto 1 pie, 11 pulg, 4 lin; ancho 1 pie, 6 pulg.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1872-1907. Núm. 295.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1910. Núm. 248.

Catálogo Museo del Prado, 1942-1996. Núm. 248.

Inscriptions +

887.
Inscribed in orange. Front, lower left corner

Exhibitions +

Reunited
Madrid
06.06.2020 - 25.07.2021

Mantegna - Bellini
Berlín
01.03.2019 - 02.07.2019

Mantegna - Bellini
Londres
01.10.2018 - 27.01.2019

Captive Beauty. Fra Angelico to Fortuny
Madrid
21.05.2013 - 10.11.2013

Andrea Mantegna 1431 - 1506
París
22.09.2008 - 05.01.2009

La Almoneda del Siglo. Relaciones artísticas entre España y Gran Bretaña, 1604 - 1655
Madrid
15.03.2002 - 02.06.2002

Andrea Mantegna
Nueva York NY
28.04.1992 - 12.07.1992

Andrea Mantegna
Londres
17.01.1992 - 05.04.1992

Location +

Room 056B (On Display)

Expuesto
Update date: 02-06-2026 | Registry created on 02-12-2015

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