The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome

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The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome
ArtistAndrea Mantegna
Year1505–1506
MediumGlue tempera on canvas
Dimensions73.5 cm × 268 cm (28.9 in × 106 in)
LocationNational Gallery, London

The Introduction of the Cult of Cybele at Rome is a painting in glue tempera on canvas by Andrea Mantegna. Measuring 73.5 cm by 268 cm, It was produced in 1505–1506 and is now in the National Gallery in London.[1] Like much of Mantegna's output after 1495 it is in monochrome, linked to contemporary sculpture and also part of the trend for illusion and trompe-l'œil favoured by the Mantuan court and especially by Isabella d'Este.

History

It was commissioned in 1505 by cardinal

Francesco II Gonzaga for a work from Mantegna, who was the latter's court painter at the time.[2]

The chosen subject was from the history of the Cornelii, specifically the arrival of the goddess

Claudia Quinta proved her virginity by helping to free it.[3]

Detail
The shepherd

Mantegna showed a scene after the image had been brought ashore, just as it arrives at the temple built in Rome for it. He based it on ancient Roman sarcophagi, then starting to be rediscovered and entering collections such as

that of the Gonzaga in Mantua. He painted the scene as if it were carved into a piece of marble with two differently mottled layers, one forming the scene and the other the background. Two pyramid tombs to the left bear the names of Nasica's father Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus and Africanus's father Publius Cornelius Scipio
, both brothers.

The two bearers in front of the image are turbaned like

corona turrita and stands on a sphere on a precious carpet, with the sphere representing universality. Behind it is a ritual torch, whilst Nasica is shown as a young man kneeling before the bust; his words welcoming it are shown on the lower border. Behind him is another senator, probably Africanus, who is speaking to another man, possibly his fellow-consul Publius Licinius Crassus Dives. The furthest right figure is a shepherd, wearing a Phrygian cap
, playing a flute and drum and standing on the steps of the temple to which the image is being brought; a trumpet protrudes from the temple doors.

Tuccia
. They are certainly the same height as The Introduction, but they are on panel not canvas and no documents support the theory.

Pietro Bembo wrote a letter to Isabella Gonzaga in 1505, referring to arguments about payment between the commissioner and the painter, which meant it was still mentioned in the inventory of Mantegna's studio contents after his death in 1506, which refers to it as "principiata" (i.e., begun but incomplete). It was completed by Mantegna's son Francesco, by Bellini or another painter. Like other works in Mantegna's studio upon his death, it was acquired by cardinal Sigismondo Gonzaga, who in 1507 finally delivered it to Francesco Cornaro.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Catalogue page". Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  2. ^ (in Italian) Alberta De Nicolò Salmazo, Mantegna, Electa, Milan 1997
  3. ISBN 9788883101878
  4. ISBN 888117099X

External links
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