Looking at Andrea Mantegna’s Parnassus in the Louvre, one might ask:
• Why does criticism point to Mercury instead of Perseus as the character holding the reins of the horse?
• Why does Pegasus have a precious breastplate and a curious goat beard?
• Who, really, is that delightful couple who dominates the scene below and what does it represent?
The author tackles these and countless other questions with compelling arguments, grounded in a painstaking examination of classical tradition and mythology. The result is that Mantegna’s work is fully restored to us in its historical context and in all its cultural and moral values – values that, unfortunately, are often underestimated or even silenced by a largely aesthetic criticism, aimed at highlighting shape, structure, colour, etc., instead of emphasising the iconographic and symbolic aspects of the images.
The author also takes on such Renaissance masterpieces as Botticelli’s Primavera, Bronzino’s Allegory of the Triumph of Venus and Caravaggio’s Amor Vincit Omnia.
Readers will find themselves drawn into the author’s passionate and thorough research, eager to share his exciting discoveries.
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