Battle of the Sea Gods

1482

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Renaissance Renaissance History Painting Engraving Proces

Dominant colour

Battle of the Sea Gods is a 1482 by Andrea Mantegna, a Renaissance work, depicting Engraving Proces, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Andrea Mantegna
When & what style?: 1482 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This print shows a big battle scene with many sea gods. It's interesting because it's made from two printing plates joined together. This was a new technique at the time, and it allowed artists to create larger images. The artist used this technique to create a detailed scene, similar to what you might see in the work of artist: Mantegna, Andrea.

The story of this work

Overview

The engraving *Battle of the Sea Gods* by Andrea Mantegna, created around 1482, consists of two plates designed to be joined, allowing for a larger composition than a single plate could accommodate. The left half includes a margin and border, while the right half lacks a left margin to facilitate seamless alignment, a technique later adopted for battle and procession scenes. The print depicts sea deities, including winged and scaly figures, wielding weapons or trumpets, and is believed to represent the theme of artistic envy, with the hag Invidia symbolizing this concept. Mantegna employed…

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Andrea Mantegna

Andrea Mantegna (UK: , US: ; Italian: ; c. 1431 – September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Roman archaeology, and the son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna…

See the richer artist page