Venice, painting rediscovered in Correr Museum storerooms was possibly made in Mantegna's atelier

After a long and complex restoration, the Madonna and Child, St. John and Six Saints, a late 15th-century work rediscovered in the deposits of the Correr Museum in Venice, is coming home and will be on public display from December 18, 2024. This painting, deeply marked by time and altered by successive repaintings that prevented its legibility and evaluation, was the subject of a careful intervention supported by the G.E. Ghirardi Onlus Foundation. The panel was exhibited for the first time at Villa Contarini in Piazzola sul Brenta, the birthplace of Andrea Mantegna, to emphasize the clear imprint of the famous Paduan painter.

A rediscovered masterpiece

Discovered in the deposits of the Correr Museum, the painting was in critical condition: a small panel in need of urgent work to bring its artistic qualities to light. Despite the difficulties, the museum conservator glimpsed in its deteriorated surface an extraordinary refinement. Thus, in-depth studies and scientific investigations began, including with the use of advanced technologies, and then restoration, leading to the work’s return to the museum.

A mysterious connection to Mantegna

The Venetian painting featuring an all-female sacred scene revealed a fascinating connection with a famous work preserved at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, attributed to Andrea Mantegna. Radiological and reflectographic analyses have revealed that the underlying drawing of the two panels is almost identical, resulting in a tracing that is almost perfectly coincident with the Boston painting: both works thus appear to have been made from the same cardboard, pierced to transfer the guiding points of the drawing to the two panels by dusting. It could thus be assumed that the two works were made in the same atelier-undoubtedly Andrea Mantegna’s Mantuan atelier-at a short distance in time if not at the same time.

An unfinished work and unsolved enigmas

Further study uncovered a surprising detail: the Venetian panel is unfinished. The artist abandoned it just short of completion, leaving open questions about the reason for this interruption. The painting’s commissioner also raises intriguing questions. It may have been a distinguished lady of the Gonzaga family, perhaps interested in obtaining two versions of the same subject for unknown reasons. No less fascinating is the path that brought the work to Venice. What hands led it to Teodoro Correr’s collection between the 18th and 19th centuries? What meanings lie behind the elegant female figures portrayed, some clearly identifiable as saints and others enigmatic in their refined Renaissance elegance?

Image: Madonna and Child, St. John and six saints. Photo by Matteo De Fina

Venice, painting rediscovered in Correr Museum storerooms was possibly made in Mantegna's atelier

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