Teilw. zugl. Diss.

This thesis examines Andrea Mantegna's painting of Judith and Holofernes in the context of attitudes towards women, material culture, and the Middle East during the Italian Renaissance.

This dissertation centers on Andrea Mantegna’s masterful series of nine canvases, the Triumphs of Caesar, painted for the Gonzaga family of Mantua in the late Quattrocento. The project considers the history of the series, including the circumstances of its commission, the use of the Triumphs within the court culture of Mantua, and the recontextualization of the series in England after its sale to King Charles I in 1630. I argue that the series was intended to serve as a form of permanent palatial decoration, and that only through a series of unforeseen events was the Triumphs ultimately used as a backdrop for theatrical performances. At Hampton Court Palace, outside of London, the Triumphs took on a new role, one which changed over the centuries, dependent upon the occupant of the palace. The first chapter explores the iconography of the Triumphs of Caesar and addresses Mantegna’s possible visual and literary sources. I situate the series within the context of Renaissance triumphal imagery and argue that the strictly classical nature of Mantegna’s Triumphs sets it apart from other fifteenth-century depictions. The second chapter turns to the patronage of the series. Though the majority of scholars believe either Lodovico II or Francesco II Gonzaga to have been the patron, I suggest instead that it was Federico I Gonzaga who commissioned the series from Mantegna. I propose that Federico intended to display the Triumphs in the modern palace he was constructing, the Domus Nova, where the series would impress upon visitors both the military might and cultural attainments of the Gonzaga. After Federico’s sudden death, however, his son Francesco inherited the series, and it was only then that the lightweight canvases were put to use as backdrops for theater and other ephemeral events, a topic addressed in chapter three. The fourth and final chapter turns to England and the role of the Triumphs at Hampton Court Palace, the home of the series for the past four centuries. I argue that the Triumphs of Caesar functioned differently for each occupant of the palace in turn, serving as political, cultural, or decorative instruments.

Au début du XVIè siècle, le territoire germanique apparaît comme le foyer de réception non seulement le plus important mais aussi le plus fécond des estampes du peintre italien Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506). De Dürer à Peter Vischer à Nuremberg, de l’atelier d’Ulrich Apt à celui de Jörg Breu l’Ancien à Augsbourg, d’Hans Baldung Grien à Matthias Grünewald dans les régions rhénanes, d’Urs Graf à Jörg Schweiger en Suisse, de l’atelier d’Altdorfer implanté à Ratisbonne à celui de Wolf Huber situé à Passau : tous les centres artistiques et humanistes du monde germanophone sont concernés. Inscrite dans la problématique des transferts culturels, cette thèse vise à montrer, par une approche résolument pluridisciplinaire, que la réception des modèles gravés italiens en Allemagne ne se borne pas aux emprunts formels et stylistiques, mais s’intègre dans une réflexion sur l’émulation, qui tient compte des spécificités à la fois historiques et culturelles du Saint Empire Romain germanique / During the early 16th century the German territory was not only the most important but also the most fruitful center for the circulation of Italian painter Andrea Mantegna's (1431 - 1506) prints. From Dürer to Peter Vischer in Nuremberg, from Ulrich Apt's workshop to Jörg Breu the Elder in Augsbourg, from Hans Baldung Grien to Matthias Grünewald in Alsace, from Urs Graf to Jörg Schweiger in Switzerland, Altdorfer's workshop, located in Regensburg to Wolf Huber's in Passau. Basically all artistic and humanist centers in the German-speaking world were concerned. This thesis takes as its primary object the problematic of cultural transfers and aims at showing, through a multidisciplinary approach, that the German reception of Italian engravings is not only limited to formal and stylistics aspects but it is integrated in a reflection regarding the emulation, which will take into account both historical and cultural particularities of the German Sacred Roman Empire

Thesis (doctoral) - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.