It'll only run you about twenty or thirty million!
by Christopher Apostle in Sotheby's PREVIEW (Jan 2003)

[Ed. note: The figures to the left are most likely Adam, Eve, and St. John the Baptist between them, as he was traditionally considered the "prodromos" (literally the forerunner of Christ). The identity of the figure to the right of Christ is more obscure: he may be Job or even Abel, but Mantegna has given us no clues.

The following was excerpted from the Sotheby's website. Much of the same information is contained in the current Preview (January 2003) article "Descent in to Limbo" by Christopher Apostle (what a name!)... Dean Zahl refers to this painting in his January 5th Sermon.]

Location: New York

Estimate: 20,000,000—30,000,000 USD

Auction: Session 1, 23 Jan 03 10:15 AM



Property of a Private Collection

ANDREA MANTEGNA 1430 – 1506

DESCENT INTO LIMBO

MEASUREMENTS 15 in. by 16 in. 38.8 cm. by 42.3 cm.

DESCRIPTION

CRITICAL HISTORY

Andrea Mantegna is one of the greatest masters of the Italian Renaissance and this panel, one of his most admired works in his own time, appears to be the last painting by him in private hands. From an early age, shortly after his completion of the Ovetari chapel frescoes in the Church of the Eremitani in Padua, Mantegna attracted the praise of contemporary humanists, politicians, artists and writers. Although panegyrics were written in honor of Jacopo Bellini (Mantegna’s father-in-law after 1453, when he married Bellini’s daughter Nicolosia) and of Pisanello, the most admired North Italian artist of the previous generation, no other painter of his day received as many poetic and literary tributes over such a long period of time as did Mantegna. Amongst the most noteworthy were those penned by Mantegna’s contemporary, the poet Jacopo Sannazaro, and the 16th century biographer, Giorgio Vasari. The artist Albrecht Dürer also held Mantegna in the highest esteem, as Camerarius wrote in a famous passage: ``While Andrea was lying ill at Mantua he heard that Albrecht was in Italy and had him summoned to his side at once … For Andrea often lamented in conversation with his friends that Albrecht’s facility in drawing had not been granted to him, nor his learning to Albrecht. On receiving the message…Albrecht…prepared for the journey without delay. But before he could reach Mantua Andrea was dead, and Dürer used to say that this was the saddest event in all his life; for high as Albrecht stood, his great and ever lofty mind was always striving after something yet above him (cited in W.M. Conway, Literary Remains of Albrecht Dürer, 1989, p. 139)’’. In the 18th century Mantegna was particularly admired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), who had seen his Ovetari frescoes in September 1786 whilst gathering material for his Italienische Reise, published 1816-1817. Mantegna was to have a lasting impact well into the 20th century, and in particular on Marcel Proust, who admired him for many of the qualities for which he was praised in his own day. Mantegna’s pictures adhere to the principles laid out by his friend, the theorist Leon Battista Alberti, in his De Pictura (1435): verisimilitude, an effective use of perspective, and sculptural effects, are all combined with a complete mastery of the tempera medium. What further distinguishes Mantegna’s paintings from those of his contemporaries are their emotive content and their unique sense of drama and religious pathos, exhibiting to the full the artist’s narrative skills. In this panel Mantegna displays all of these characteristics with sophisticated virtuosity to create a scene of dramatic intensity that astounded contemporary audiences and continues to astonish us today.

A master of perspective and, in particular, of foreshortening, Mantegna made important contributions to the compositional techniques of early Renaissance painting in Italy (see Fig. 1). He developed a passionate interest in classical antiquity, which was partly born from the training he received in Andrea Squarcione’s bottega in Padua in the 1440s, but was further encouraged and fostered by humanist circles, at the Gonzaga court in Mantua, where Mantegna was court painter from 1460. Alberti had described the art of painting as that which is created through observation, experience, theory and learning, or refracted through the example of antiquity, and by exploiting the rich vocabulary of the ancient past, Mantegna raised his art to new levels of spiritual and iconographic meaning. The influence of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture as well as that of the sculptor Donatello is clearly evident in Mantegna’s rendering of the human figure in his paintings, drawings, and engravings. His treatment of the human form is distinguished for its solidity, expressiveness, and above all for its anatomical correctness. Mantegna combined the perspectival experiments of Donatello with an extremely refined painting technique, and an unrivalled understanding of antiquity — all features that further endeared him to humanist circles.

Mantegna’s artistic genius and adherence to humanist tenets were noted early on in his career not long after frescoing the Ovetari Chapel he was given what was to be the most important opportunity of his life. In 1460 Marchese Ludovico Gonzaga invited Mantegna to Mantua to become court painter, and he remained in service to the family until his death. Although Mantegna might have been paid a higher salary at a wealthier court, or in the free markets of Padua, Venice or Florence, it would have been hard for him to find greater protection or loyalty than under the Gonzagas. Their unrelenting support for humanist education ensured that Mantua remained a fertile artistic and intellectual home for Mantegna for well over four decades. Even after the death of Ludovico Gonzaga in 1478 Mantegna’s salary and position were maintained under his sons - first Federico (d. 1484) and then Francesco — both of whom became Mantegna’s most influential patrons (see Fig. 2). It was Francesco who probably commissioned this Descent into Limbo as well as Mantegna’s impressive series of monumental canvases depicting The Triumphs of Caesar (today in the Royal Collection at Hampton Court). Mantegna began work on the Triumphs in the mid-1480s (they were already begun in August 1486 when they are mentioned in a letter by Ercole d’Este) and they are likely to have been completed just before the artist’s death in 1506, a few years after the Descent into Limbo was painted. At that time Mantua lay under the rule of Francesco and his young wife, Isabella d’Este, and the Triumphs were commissioned to glorify the reign of the Gonzaga family, placing particular emphasis on the military prowess of Francesco himself. The fame of the series was immediate and remained unchallenged throughout the 16th century and beyond, reaffirming Mantegna as the master of perspective and artistic invention. Like the Descent into Limbo, the Triumphs remained in the Gonzaga family collections for over a century and were considered to be amongst their most prized possessions; the Descent (which is first securely recorded in an inventory of c. 1700-08, but is likely to have been commissioned by Francesco himself, see Provenance below) whilst the Triumphs were sold to Charles I, King of England, in 1629.



THE DESCENT INTO LIMBO: SUBJECT AND ICONOGRAPHY

The subject of the present panel - The Descent into Limbo — is a rare one in Western art. Though not mentioned in the canonical gospels, it is alluded to in the Nicene Creed, and recounted in both the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus and in other works of popular devotion. It was the first Epistle General of St. Peter that provided the principal source: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison (Peter 3:18-19)’’. An account of these events was also noted in the fifth century in the Acts of Pilate and others followed, such as the version in Iacopus de Varagine’s Golden Legend. By the 15th century it had become an established part of Christian belief that the time between Christ’s Death and Resurrection was spent descending into Limbo, the "waiting room" at the entrance to Hell. The inhabitants of Limbo were said to include the Old Testament prophets and patriarchs, who were not damned but could only be admitted to Paradise after the coming of Christ. Upon entering Limbo Christ is said to have shattered the Gates of Hell, triumphing over Satan and thereby liberating the righteous. While little represented in Western painting, the Descent into Limbo was not uncommon in the Byzantine tradition, where it was closely associated with the Resurrection. The Church of Chora in Constantinople (constructed 1310-20) is resplendent with Byzantine mosaics and frescoes including one of the most magnificent painted depictions of the subject (see Fig. 3). These images proved influential in the development of Byzantine iconography and were further explored in the decoration of the Church of the Pantanassa at Mistra in Greece (1428). Although in both churches the basic compositional forms of the more traditional Byzantine iconography were retained, they were reinterpreted with exceptional vitality. In particular the depiction of the Anastasis (Resurrection) and the Descent into Limbo in the apse of the mortuary chapel, adjoining the Church in Chora, are infused with extraordinary energy: the resurrected Christ strides victoriously across the shattered Gates of Hell to liberate Adam and Eve from the infernal regions.

The Byzantine iconography and treatments of the theme were adapted by Duccio and Giotto, both of whom share the responsibility for introducing the subject into Western tradition. Duccio’s first known treatment of the subject is a small tempera panel from the Maestà in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena, datable to circa 1308—11 (see Fig. 4); that is slightly earlier in date than the wall paintings at Chora. The panel shows clear traces of the Byzantine tradition in Duccio’s adherence to the rules governing the hierarchical disposition of figures and their arrangement within the composition. Christ is shown on the left, crushing a devil under the Gates of Hell, while the elect are shown waiting on the right, at the mouth of Hell. Further inspired by Byzantine models, Duccio employs abundant gold leaf in the Savior’s robe. In both Duccio’s composition and in the Chora frescoes, Christ is shown striding forward to set his forefathers free, and while helping Adam out of Limbo he treads on the hideous Satan, who lies vanquished beneath him, blind with rage. Giotto employs a similar compositional format to Duccio in his own depiction of the Descent into Limbo, datable to circa 1308-10, now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich (see Fig. 5). In his panel, Giotto has chosen to include the Good Thief (Dismas), probably in reference to the words Christ spoke to him on the cross, as told in Luke’s Gospel ("Today shalt thou be with me in paradise" [Luke, 23:43]): this passage was widely assumed to signify that Dismas accompanied Christ to Limbo. Later in the trecento Andrea da Firenze also portrayed the Descent of Christ into Limbo in a fresco in the Cappella degli Spagnuoli in the chapter house of the monastery of the Santa Maria Novella, Florence, in circa 1365-68 (see Fig. 6). Compositionally it is similar to Giotto’s treatment of the subject but Andrea’s narration of the Passion is illustrated in a continuous fashion, whereas Giotto painted the scene on a single, separate panel.

The theme was seldom depicted in the quattrocento but there were some mid-15th century representations with which Mantegna would surely have been familiar, particularly a painting generally attributed to Jacopo Bellini. The small panel ascribed to Jacopo (Museo Civico, Padua), was associated by Colin Eisler with the predella of the altarpiece for the Gattamelata Chapel, formerly in the Santo in Padua, which was recorded to have been signed by Jacopo and his sons (Gentile and Giovanni) in or around 1459-60 (see Fig. 7). The composition of the painting derives almost exactly from Jacopo’s drawing in his British Museum sketchbook (BM26; reproduced in C. Eisler, The Genius of Jacopo Bellini, 1989, plate 224). Given Mantegna’s association with the family, particularly after 1453, both works would have been known to him and would certainly have influenced his earliest treatment of the subject, in both painted and engraved form (in particular for the inclusion of the standing figure of Dismas, holding the cross). In Bellini’s composition the narrative runs in traditional form, from left to right, with Christ standing to the left of the cave, and this is where Mantegna’s ingenuity lies: his design differs radically from what had come before. His composition is boldly conceived, with Christ placed centrally and shown from behind, striding forwards into the gaping cave of Limbo. And so, while not a common theme in Italian art, Mantegna had a number of antecedents from which to draw inspiration and the fact that he chose to represent it on numerous occasions, in various different media, suggests it was a subject that greatly intrigued him.

TREATMENTS OF THE SUBJECT IN MANTEGNA’S ŒUVRE

Approximately thirty years before this panel was painted Mantegna began experimenting with representing the theme of Descent into Limbo, in both drawn and engraved form. The earliest known treatment of the subject, and perhaps the most closely related to the composition of the present panel, is Mantegna’s drawing in the Robert Lehman collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (see Fig. 8). This drawing has been dated to shortly after Mantegna’s return from Tuscany in 1466 and some scholars have plausibly associated the sheet with a lost painting of ‘la instoria del limbo’ documented in a letter from Mantegna to Ludovico Gonzaga, dated 28 June 1468, in which the artist states that he has begun work on a ‘quadro’ of this subject (see Kristeller, under Literature, 1902, doc. 39). Given that both the drawing and the present painting are compositionally close, it has further been argued that this panel may be the ‘quadro’ mentioned in Mantegna’s letter, thus providing us with a terminus ante quem for its execution. This theory, which has now been rejected for stylistic reasons, favoring instead a dating in the early 1490s for the painting, is discussed in greater detail below. In both the drawing and the painting Christ is depicted with his back turned, in the center of the composition, whilst a group of figures gathers to His left and a single figure stands to His right. In the drawing the figure to the right of Christ is the Good Thief (Dismas), identified by the cross he holds, whereas in the painting he is not so easily identifiable. In both works the two younger male and female figures have been convincingly identified as Adam and Eve, the first of the Old Testament patriarchs released from Limbo. The bearded figures in the center of the painting, shown emerging from the shadows of the cave, are most likely Old Testament prophets or patriarchs and, whilst they are clearly characterized in the painting, their presence in the drawing is given much less emphasis. The half-length figure, in particular, is a far more finished and less stylized depiction of a thought process begun in the drawing almost thirty years earlier. The Lehman drawing includes a group of horned devilish creatures above the cave which are absent from the painting but which he repeats in all his other drawn and engraved treatments of the theme. These creatures’ contorted poses are reminiscent of the lamenting angels in Giotto’s frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua; figures Mantegna would have been familiar with from his early project in the Ovetari Chapel.

Mantegna’s second known treatment of the subject is a drawing on vellum in the Bibliothèque Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (inv. 189), which is datable to circa 1470, shortly after the Lehman drawing (see Fig. 8). The chief differences between the Lehman and Paris drawings are that the figures of Dismas and the elect (among them Adam and Eve) have changed places, and the landscape is more expansive. The composition of the Paris drawing is almost identical to that in an engraving from Mantegna’s school, and quite possibly by the artist himself, examples of which are in the Barbara Piasecka Johnson collection and in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (see Fig. 9). The Paris drawing is almost identical in composition to a painting of the Descent into Limbo in the Bristol Museums and Art Gallery, now generally accepted as being by Giovanni Bellini (see Fig. 10). This has led some scholars to suggest an attribution to Bellini for the unfinished Paris drawing as well, but a close look at the manner in which the rocks have been drawn in the foreground and at the figure of Christ both reveal the hand of Mantegna. A careful comparison between the Paris drawing and Bellini’s painting in Bristol, both of which are executed on vellum (the latter in tempera and oil over a pen underdrawing on vellum, laid down on panel), reveals that the two works are the products of different hands. The fact that Bellini was familiar with Mantegna’s drawing and painting of the subject is further attested to by the small face hidden in the rock-face of the Bristol painting, probably inserted as a nod to his brother-in-law’s invention. The treatment of the subject is very similar overall but there are a number of subtle divergences, most notably that Bellini depicts the figure of Eve as young and beautiful, modestly covering her nudity with her hands, her face turned tenderly towards Christ. Mantegna’s drawing of Eve is unfinished and though she is naked, her face and upper torso are left blank. The print based on the Paris drawing, however, depicts Eve as old and haggard in appearance; something clearly not intended by Mantegna in the drawing for her left arm, albeit faint, is drawn up across her body in a modest gesture similar to that in Bellini’s painting. The horned devilish creatures that appear in both the drawing and painting, hovering above the mouth of the cave, are also in Bellini’s painting where the tongues of fire spitting from their trumpets heighten their sinister nature. Dismas stands to the left in Bellini’s panel, holding the cross, and Christ is in the center draped in white, once again with his back turned to the viewer, rescuing another naked soul who is partially depicted in the mouth of the cave. Adam and Eve stand naked to the right of Christ and beside them an unidentified man with hunched shoulders, blocking his ears from the sound of the trumpeters. Whilst compositionally similar to Mantegna’s Paris drawing, Bellini’s painting is thoroughly Venetian in mood: its sensitive treatment of light and color, together with the minutely detailed description of the terrain, are reminiscent of Bellini’s painting of the Transfiguration (Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples; circa 1480-85) and the St. Francis in Ecstasy (Frick collection, New York; circa 1475-80), both of which are datable to around the same time.

THE DESCENT INTO LIMBO: DATING AND TECHNIQUE

Scholars have often associated the present panel with the ‘quadro’ of this subject described in Mantegna’s letter to Ludovico Gonzaga of 28 June 1468. For this reason a possible date of circa mid-1460s, a period during which Mantegna had just completed his paintings for the chapel in the Castello di San Giorgio, had previously been suggested (for a fuller discussion of this early dating see Oberhuber and Sheehan, both under Literature, below). However, a close examination of the panel and its style of execution would suggest a date in the early 1490s, indicating that its patron would more likely have been Marchese Francesco Gonzaga, husband of Isabella d’Este (and not Ludovico).

The painting is first recorded in the Gonzaga inventories in the collection of Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, last Duke of Mantua, in circa 1700-08: `G[esu] C[risto] che và al limbo fatto dal Mantegna’ (see D’Arco, under Literature, 1857, p. 186). A year later, in an inventory of 1709, the painting is mentioned again and its dimensions given 2 _ x 3 quarte (approximately 39.9 x 47.9 cm): dimensions which, as one can see, are very close to those of this panel in its present form (see Luzio, under Literature, 1913, p. 317). In his catalogue raisonné Lightbown argues in favor of a date of 1490, revising an earlier opinion that it dated from around 1460 (see Literature). Both Christiansen and Hind (see both under Literature below) propose a date of execution around 1492, based on a comparison with Mantegna’s Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and the Magdalene in the National Gallery, London, datable to a couple of years earlier (see Fig. 11); an association also made by Lightbown who compares the careful anatomical drawing of the figures and the treatment of their draperies with those in the Descent into Limbo. Ekserdjian (see Literature) notes that the rocky terrain in the foreground is close to that in Mantegna’s painting of Parnassus in the Musée du Louvre, Paris, datable to 1497 (Lightbown, see Literature, pp. 440-443, cat. no. 39, illus. in colour plate XII). He also notes that the frontal figure on the left, probably identifiable as Adam, is strikingly similar to the figure of St. Sebastian in the Ca’ d’Oro, Venice, which dates from circa 1505 (Lightbown, op. cit., pp. 444-445, cat. no. 42, illus. plate 130).

Further substantiating a dating in the early 1490s is the existence of an 18th century print after the design, which bears a date of 1492 which has led some scholars to speculate that this is the painting’s possible date of execution. The heightened sense of emotional tension in this painting is indeed characteristic of Mantegna’s works after 1490. Vasari noted that in that year Mantegna was in Rome completing his painting of The Virgin and Child ("Madonna delle Cave") today in the Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence (Lightbown, op. cit., pp. 435-6, cat. no. 31, illus. plate 121), and a comparison between that painting and the Descent into Limbo gives credence to a slightly later date of execution for the latter work. Furthermore it would seem to pre-date by some years the extremely emotive depiction of the Pietà (the Man of Sorrows supported by two angels) in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, which dates from circa 1500. All three works are similar in mood, each scene set in a rocky, barren landscape, devoid of any ornamentation, thus leaving their subjects dramatically isolated.

This gloriously painted panel thus represents the culmination of all of Mantegna’s experiments with the treatment of the subject. It is a painting that is both exquisite and deeply moving. Here the sense of pathos and the artist’s use of perspective are particularly advanced, when compared to his earlier representations. Mantegna almost always changed the perspectival construction of his compositions from that devised in a drawing to that finally executed in a painting, almost as though he needed to work out the composition and poses before he applied his techniques of recession and foreshortening. The structure of this particular composition is a fine example of his remarkable capacity for invention. His bold use of foreshortening and subtle tricks of perspective work together to create a composition that fully displays his genius as an artist. Mantegna leads the viewer across a barren landscape of rocks, each one rendered with exacting geological accuracy, towards the mouth of the cave. In Lightbown’s words "rocks and platforms of rock will always form the evident structure of Mantegna’s landscapes… Indeed it might almost be said that for Mantegna mountains were rude monuments and that he saw in their irregular heaps of rock…a sort of natural architecture, interpreting literally the Renaissance concept of fabrica mundi" (op. cit., p. 36). The ominous cavernous setting is further emphasized by Mantegna’s conscious omission of the customary narrative element of the slain, trampled figure of Satan and, contrary to his earlier depictions of the subject, of the traditional leitmotif of the shattered Gates of Hell.

There is a heightened mood of suspense in the scene, broken only by the gusts of wind issuing forth from the abyss that play with Christ’s robes. The figure of Christ, seen from behind standing at the edge of the cave, rests on the Resurrection banner and leans towards one of the patriarchs emerging from the depths of Limbo. The same wind that plays with Christ’s robes blows the patriarch’s gray hair and white cloak up in the air, simulating the illusion of a halo above his head. The gust of wind not only heightens the drama, but it may also be a reference to Alberti’s reiteration of the classical conceit that nature on occasion makes chance works of art, forming images in her own creations. Each of the characters in the scene possesses individuality and Mantegna focuses on this patriarch’s pained expression, as he reaches out to Christ in the hope of salvation. Indeed the emotional tension of the scene revolves around the dialogue between these two characters and, like the young female on the left and the old man on the right, we are immediately drawn into the center of the composition. This is further achieved through the figure of Christ, ingeniously positioned at the axis of the cave and thus becoming the narrative focus around which the other figures gravitate. His posture, striding and bending forward, in contrast to the other figures that face outwards, directs our line of vision to the heart of the painting and thus ingeniously makes us feel a part of the deliverance of the righteous. And yet this is not merely a compositional device: guided by classical example Mantegna has chosen not to depict strong emotion directly, and as Christ turns away from the viewer, His expression and feelings are thus left to our imagination.

It is conceivable that Mantegna’s decision to depict Christ in this unorthodox manner was inspired in part by a passage from Alberti’s De Pictura, in which a painting by the ancient artist Timantes of Cyprus of the Immolation of Iphigenia is described. Alberti recounts that in Timantes’ attempt to depict the profound grief of Iphigenia’s father, he decided that the most effective way to capture the emotion of the scene was to fully drape the figure and depict it from behind, leaving the depth of his grief to the imagination of the viewer (an observation first made by Ekserdjian, see Literature, p. 258). The fact that Alberti is recorded in Mantua in 1459-60 and again between 1463 and 1470, whilst working on architectural commissions for the Gonzaga family, makes it highly probable that the two artists exchanged ideas and thoughts on the subject. The overall composition, with a central focus either side of which are flanked standing figures, also reveals the influence of sculpted reliefs. Slender, haggard bodies — half-dead, half-alive - clothed in simple white robes stand together and line the cave walls. Their identities have been the subject of much speculation. The figures to the left are most likely Adam, Eve, and St. John the Baptist between them, as he was traditionally considered the "prodromos" (literally the forerunner of Christ). The unshaven figure of the young Adam and the gracious, maiden-like figure of Eve both derive inspiration from the classical ideal, and they owe much to the sculpture of Donatello and to Bellini’s painted treatment of the subject. The identity of the figure to the right of Christ is more obscure: he may be Job or even Abel, but Mantegna has given us no clues. Alternative suggestions for his identity include, amongst the just patriarchs, kings, and prophets of the Old Testament, Abraham, Isaac, Elijah, Moses, Solomon or David; but none of these seems entirely convincing. Gentili argues that Moses would never have been shown without his horns, and Solomon and David would always have been shown crowned (for further discussion of this see Literature below).

The colorful costume worn by Christ, in contrast to that of the same figure in Bellini’s painting in Bristol, only serves to attract the viewer’s attention to this figure even more. The bright red and opulent blue (the latter probably obtained from lapis lazuli) stand out from the golden hues and more subtle tones used for both the secondary figures and for their rocky surroundings. The blue and red in Christ’s robe are not only the colours most traditionally associated with the Resurrection, but they also repeat the colours in the banner He holds. These colours, combined with the detailed highlights on the figures’ hair, beards, and clothing, produce a subtle chromatic harmony which is characteristic of Mantegna’s late works. The highlights on the robe are exquisitely applied in gold and these details, like the gilt in Christ’s halo, are beautifully preserved. This technique had already been adopted by Mantegna almost half a century earlier, for the robes of the Virgin in his Adoration of the Shepherds in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (see Fig. 14). The delicacy in execution of the figure of Christ clearly impressed Mantegna’s contemporaries: a drawing in Berlin, once considered to be good enough to be by Mantegna himself, isolates the figure of Christ from the rest of the composition and carefully replicates the gold highlights with white heightening (Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, See Fig. 13). The remarkably good condition of this panel emphasizes the incisive lines used by Mantegna to define the forms, and the colors for the most part retain their original brilliance and delicacy.



PROVENANCE

The Descent into Limbo is first mentioned in the early 18th century inventory of the collection of Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga (1650-1708), the last Duke of Mantua, and once again in a posthumous inventory of the same collection in 1709. Most scholars believe the painting was commissioned by Francesco Gonzaga (1466-1519), husband of Isabella d’Este and one of the most influential patrons of Mantegna’s artistic career (see Fig. 2). When his father Ludovico Gonzaga (1441-1484) died prematurely, Francesco was made Marchese at the age of eighteen and, even from this early age, he displayed considerable artistic sensibility. Mantegna wrote of Francesco in a letter to Lorenzo de’ Medici: "The disposition of my new lord renews my hopes, seeing him all inclined towards virtù." Not only did Francesco continue to support Mantegna financially after his father’s death, despite the Gonzaga family’s mounting debts to the Medici family, but he also encouraged Mantegna to embark on important commissions, including the highly impressive series of The Triumphs of Caesar. In 1487 Francesco allowed Mantegna to leave his court in Mantua to go to Rome to work at the Villa Belvedere in the Vatican for Pope Innocent VIII: the frescoes in the chapel and sacristy there were tragically destroyed when the building was torn down by Pope Pius VI in 1780. Francesco spoke of Mantegna in glowing terms, describing him to the Pope as an "outstanding painter whose like our age has not seen". The painting does not appear in the 1626-27 inventory of the collection of Ferdinando Gonzaga (1587-1626), sixth Duke of Mantua, in the Palazzo Ducale, which suggests that it hung in a different residence at that date. Hanging as part of the Gonzaga collections in Mantua the painting would have been available for study to artists of the late Quattro- and early Cinquecento. This seems to be confirmed not only by the existence of numerous 15th century engravings, woodcuts, and drawings (that already mentioned in Berlin, for example) but, more importantly, by the survival of two contemporary painted copies of the composition. The first, formerly in the collection of Conte Valier at Asolo is now in the Blaffer Foundation, Houston, whilst the second, formerly in the Zambeccari collection, is in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna (Lightbown, op. cit., p. 438, reproduced plate 126). Interestingly, both painted copies include the top of the cave with an expanse of sky above it with demons and are both rectangular in format, thereby suggesting that the present panel may have been marginally cropped along the left edge and more along the top. It should be noted, however, that if the present painting was cut down this must have occurred while still in the Gonzaga collections since its measurements today concur with those listed in the Gonzaga inventory of 1709.

The painting’s fate after Ferdinando Carlo’s death in 1708 is unclear, and the precise date of the panel’s departure from Mantua is not known. Many of the Duke’s pictures were sold in Venice after his death and it is possible that the Descent into Limbo remained in a Venetian collection until it was acquired by the Marchese Jacopo Durazzo, who was Imperial Ambassador in Venice from circa 1775 until his death in 1795. Indeed, the painting is next recorded in Genoa, in the year of Durazzo’s death, in a posthumous inventory of his collection. In 1774 Durazzo had been commissioned by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, the founder of the Albertina in Vienna, to form a collection of engravings. The fact that Durazzo developed a passion for engravings - so much so that he subsequently formed a second collection for himself - goes some way in explaining his particular interest in Mantegna. It is highly probable that the numerous 18th century engravings after this painting (four are listed by Hind) were produced when the painting was still in Durazzo’s possession. One of these engravings is signed "Gio de Pian" and dated 1795 and, given that Giovanni de Pian (1764-1800) was active in Venice as a reproductive engraver before 1797, it seems very likely that he would have had direct access to the painting (or to related prints and drawings). Another 18th century engraving is inscribed and dated "1492/MA/AMF" and this has been used in arguments to date the painting to 1492. As Hind pointed out it is possible that this or a third print was done by the painter-engraver Francesco Novelli (1764-1836), who is known to have made engravings after Mantegna’s designs. In 1797 Novelli wrote from Venice that he had seen a picture of this subject by Mantegna in the collection of the Marchese Jacopo Durazzo: this is clearly of considerable importance in establishing the location of the painting towards the end of the 18th century, as well as being a clear testimony to the fame of the picture at this date.

It seems likely that in 1795 the painting passed by inheritance to Durazzo’s heirs, but its exact whereabouts from that date to the second quarter of the 20th century are not known. The composition was known solely through engravings until its public reappearance at the 1934-35 Winter Exhibition at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in London. It was lent on that occasion by the eminent collector Sir Stephen Courtauld, younger brother of Sir Samuel Courtauld, who is best known for being the founder of the Courtauld Institute and Gallery in London. Both Sir Stephen and Sir Samuel were passionate art collectors with a particular interest in all that was spiritual in art. The painting’s last appearance on the open market was in 1974, shortly after a Sotheby’s sale; it has since been in private collections, changing hands only once in the late 1980s. The fact that the painting was recently loaned (Royal Academy, London and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1992; and again more recently at the Frick collection, New York, 2000-2002), has allowed for a reassessment of the picture’s qualities and public appeal. Its appearance today represents what may well be a unique opportunity to acquire a masterpiece by one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance.



Provenance

[Probably] Francesco Gonzaga (1466-1519), Duke of Mantua, thence by descent

Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga (1650-1708), last Duke of Mantua, from at least 1700 until 1708, and last mentioned in his posthumous inventory of 1709

Probably sold shortly afterwards in Venice and acquired during the second half of the 18th century by

Marchese Jacopo Durazzo (d. 1795), Imperial Ambassador in Venice from circa 1775, in Genoa, last recorded in his posthumous inventory of 1795

Ernesto Bertollo, before 1930, from whom acquired by

Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd., London, 1930, there purchased on November 4, 1930 by

Sir Stephen Courtauld, Eltham Palace, London and Taynuilt, Argyll, 1930—1973

Sale (Property of the Trustees of a Deceased’s Estate): Sotheby’s, London, July 11, 1973, lot 10, there purchased for 490,000 pounds sterling by

With P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, 1973-1974, there purchased by

Juan de Beistegui, Paris, from whom acquired by the present collector in 1988

Exhibition

London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, Winter Exhibition, 1934-35, no. 23

London, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., 1973-74

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mantegna’s, `Descent into Limbo’, June-October, 1988

Warsaw, Royal Castle, Opus Sacrum: Catalogue of the Exhibition from the Collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, 1990, no. 10

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts, Andrea Mantegna, 1992, no. 70

New York, Frick Collection, on loan 2000-2002

Literature

C. D’Arco, Delle arti e degli artefici di Mantova, 1857, vol. 2, p. 186

G. Campori, Lettere artistiche inedite, 1866, p. 325

A. Luzio, La galleria dei Gonzaga venduta all’ Inghilterra nel 1627-1628, 1913, p. 317

P. Kristeller, Andrea Mantegna, 1901, p. 103

P. Kristeller, Andrea Mantegna, 1902, doc. 39

T. Borenius, Four Early Italian Engravers, 1923, p. 52 — 53, discussed under no. 6

G. Fiocco, Mantegna, Milan, 1937, p. 77, illus. plate 158 (as a late work by Mantegna and studio)

A.M. Hind, Early Italian Engraving, 1938-1948, vol. V, pp. 18-19, no. 9 (as c. 1490’s)

J. Byam Shaw, "A Giovanni Bellini at Bristol", in The Burlington Magazine, vol. XCIV, 1952, p. 158, under note 7

E. Tietze-Conrat, Andrea Mantegna, 1955, pp. 197-198, illus. fig. 26 (as a late work)

R. Cipriani, Tutta la pittura del Mantegna, 1958, p. 78

H. Möhle, Hundert Meisterzeichnungen aus der Staatlichen Graphischen Sammlung München, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, XXII, 1959, p. 170

R. Pallucchini, Giovanni Bellini, 1959, p. 136, illus. fig. 72

G. Paccagnini, A. Mezzetti, M. Figlioli, in Andrea Mantegna, exhibition catalogue, Mantua, Palazzo Ducale, 1961, pp. 167, discussed under no. 124 (as a late work), illus. fig. 142

Agnew’s 1817-1967, 1967, illus. pl. 17

N. Garavaglia and M. Bellonci, L’opera completa del Mantegna, 1967, p. 98, no. 34g (as a late work)

B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: The Central and North Italian Schools, London, 1968, vol. I, p. 241 (as after Mantegna’s design)

G. Robertson, Giovanni Bellini, 1968, p. 75, illus. figs. XIIIa, LIVa

J. A. Levenson, K. Oberhuber and J.L. Sheehan, Early Italian Engravings from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1973, pp. 208-211, no. 8 (as c. 1460s)

M.A. Jacobson, The Engravings of Mantegna, PhD, Columbia University, 1976

C. Elam, in Splendours of the Gonzaga, ed. D. Chambers and J. Martineau, exhibition catalogue, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1981, p. 17, illus. (as c. 1468)

C. Eisler, "Saints Anthony Abbot and Bernardino of Siena Designed by Jacopo and painted by Giovanni Bellini", in Arte Veneta, vol. XXXIX, 1985, pp. 32-40

Pignatti, 1985, pp. 58-61 (dates picture to the late 1460s)

R. Lightbown, Mantegna: Complete Catalogue of Paintings, Drawings and Prints, 1986, pp. 437-438, no. 34, illus. pl. 125; also discussed p. 461, under no. 70l; p. 469, under no. 137; p. 488, under no. 203 (as early 1490’s)

L. Ventura, "La religione privata: Ludovico II, Andrea Mantegna e la Cappella del Castello di San Giorgio," in Quaderni di Palazzo Tè, 1987, no. 7, pp. 23-34

M. Kimmelman, "A Mantegna Masterpiece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art", in The New York Times, June 24, 1988, pp. C1, C24

Gentili and Labuda, in Opus Sacrum: Catalogue of the Exhibition from the Collection of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, exhibition catalogue, Warsaw, Royal Castle, 1990, no. 10, pp. 72-77, illus. (as ca. 1492)

K. Christiansen and D. Eksderjian, in Andrea Mantegna, exhibition catalogue, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and London, Royal Academy of Arts, 1992, pp. 258-272, particularly pp. 269-271, cat. no. 70, illus. in colour p. 270 and a detail on p. 257 (as ca. 1492)

M. Hirst, ``London and New York Mantegna (Exhibition Review)’’, in The Burlington Magazine, vol. CXXXIV, no. 1070, May 1992, p. 319

A. du Nicolo Salmazo, Andrea Mantegna, 1997, p. 152, no. 58 (as ca. 1492)

U. Baldini, V. Curzi, C. Prete, Andrea Mantegna, 1997, p. 191 (as ca. 1492)

N. Bätzner, Mantegna, 1998, p. 91, illus. fig. 104 (as ca. 1492)

M. Turner, Eltham Palace, 1999, p. 7 and p. 37