La Vierge de la Victoire, Andrea Mantegna

Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality. His flinty, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony figures give evidence of a fundamentally sculptural approach to painting. He also led a workshop that was the leading producer of prints in Venice before 1500.

Mantegna had also shown the way in his use of dramatic foreshortening, creating an effect of surprise on the viewer that artists would strive for ever after. Early and influential art historians such as Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529 CE) noted that Mantegna was right up there with Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519 CE), Michelangelo (1475-1564 CE), and Raphael (1483-1520 CE) as the very best of the Renaissance artists, a position he continues to enjoy today.