''Saint Mark'' is a 1448 tempera on canvas painting by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in orde ...

. It is now in the

Städel Museum The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

. It is the earliest known work by the artist. Mantegna was aged 17 in 1448, the year in which he regained his independence after six years in the studio of

Francesco Squarcione Francesco Squarcione (''c.'' 1395 – after 1468) was an Italian artist from Padua. His pupils included Andrea Mantegna (with whom he had many legal battles), Cosimo Tura and Carlo Crivelli. There are only two works signed by him: the ''Mad ...

. He filed a lawsuit against his former master for not paying him for works he had produced under his own name. He also began several commissions, such as the altarpiece for Santa Sofia church in Padua, now destroyed. It is signed and dated 1448 on a small cartouche in the foreground, inscribed "INCLITA MAGNANIMI VEN... / EVANGELISTA PAX TIBI M RC / ANDREAE MANTEGNAE PICTORIS LABOR". The use of a cartouche in this way originated in Flemish art and was also used by other Italian artists such as Filippo Lippi.

Bibliography

* Tatjana Pauli, ''Mantegna'', serie ''Art Book'', Leonardo Arte, Milano 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mark (Mantegna) 1448 paintings Paintings by Andrea Mantegna Mantegna Paintings in the collection of the Städel Books in art