Death of the Virgin

Andrea Mantegna painted *Death of the Virgin* in tempera on panel between 1457 and 1462, originally commissioned by Ludovico III Gonzaga for the private chapel of the Castello di San Giorgio in Mantua. The work was part of a larger decorative scheme that included the *Uffizi Triptych* and a detached upper panel depicting Christ with the Virgin's soul, now held in Ferrara. Following the chapel's 16th-century restructuring, the painting was transferred to Ferrara, appearing in the 1588 inventory of Margherita Gonzaga's collection. It was subsequently acquired by King Charles I of England from the Gonzaga family in 1627. After Charles I's execution in 1649, the work was purchased in early 1650 by the Flemish dealer Jan Baptist Gaspars for 17 pounds and 10 shillings. Spanish ambassador Alonso de Cárdenas then secured the piece for King Philip IV of Spain. The painting entered the Museo del Prado in Madrid in 1829, where it remains today.

The work is held in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, inventoried as
"Tránsito de la Virgen" (accession P003057).

It was originally commissioned by Ludovico III Gonzaga for the private chapel in the Castello di San Giorgio, Mantua, and formed part of a larger decorative scheme that included panels now dispersed to the Uffizi (Florence) and the Pinacoteca Nazionale (Ferrara).

It was purchased in 1627 from the Gonzaga by Charles I of England and later acquired in 1650 by Philip IV of Spain. The painting entered the Prado in 1829.

It was exhibited in the 1992 Mantegna retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Completed around 1462 for the private chapel of Ludovico III Gonzaga in Mantua's Castello di San Giorgio, this tempera panel represents Andrea Mantegna's first official commission as court painter. The work originally formed part of a larger decorative scheme that included the Uffizi Triptych, though the chapel was later dismantled and the paintings dispersed. Art historian Roberto Longhi first reconstructed the painting's original vertical format, identifying a separate panel in Ferrara depicting Christ receiving the Virgin's soul as the missing upper section.

Scholars characterize the composition as a departure from miraculous iconography, favoring a solemn, architectural setting grounded in linear perspective. The background landscape realistically depicts the Bridge of San Giorgio and Lake Mezzo, anchoring the sacred event in the specific geography of Mantua. Following a restoration in 1990, the painting was featured in a major 1992 retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts, where it was hailed as a sublime masterpiece of the Early Renaissance.

Although the original upper section of the painting was likely detached, art historian Roberto Longhi reconstructed its appearance and hypothesized it served as a fourth panel to the Uffizi Triptych. The work is widely regarded as one of Andrea Mantegna's most significant pieces, with the 1992 exhibition catalogue for his retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts in London describing it as "sublime" and ranking it among the most important paintings of the entire Renaissance. In 2008, the Louvre temporarily reunited the main panel with the detached fragment depicting Christ bearing the Virgin's soul, which is held in Ferrara, allowing viewers to appreciate the composition's original scope. The painting's legacy is further defined by its role in demonstrating Mantegna's synthesis of rigorous perspective, classical architecture, and vivid realism, influencing the trajectory of Northern Italian Renaissance art.