The Battle of the Sea Gods (the Left Half)|Andrea Mantegna |Search Collection

Updated 08 April 2025

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Andrea Mantegna

Isola di Cartura, 1431 - Mantova, 1506

The Battle of the Sea Gods (the Left Half)

Date	ca. 1475
Materials and Techniques	Engraving and drypoint
Size（cm）	27.6 x 32.9
Standard ref.	Bartsch XIII, 18; Hind V, 5
Category	Prints
Collection Number	G.1981-0002

Mantegna is a famous painter of 15th century Italy. The word "INVID", which is inscribed on the plate the old woman with a terrifying look is holding, is an abbreviation of INVIDIA, the Latin word for "jealousy". Regarding the interpretation of the theme of this mysterious print, some say it has to do with ichthyophagists referred to in "Bibiliotheca historica" by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus while others identify general literature of the time including Strabo's "Geography" as the source. This print is the left half of an oblong composition of a sequential frieze. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)

Provenance

Purchased by the NMWA, 1981.

Exhibition History

1997: Resonating Love and Life: European Art from National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Nagaoka, 12 April 1997 - 18 May 1997, cat. no. 42
2011: The Locus of Art: Aesthetics of Seiro Mayekawa from Dürer to Tsune Nakamura, Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, 3 September 2011 - 10 October 2011, cat. no. 59, repr.
2023: Villains in the Frame, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 27 June 2023 - 3 September 2023, cat. no. 11

Bibliography

1816: Ottley, William Young. An Inquiry into the Origin and Early History of Engraving: upon Copper and in Wood, with an Account of Engravers and their Works, from the Invention of Chalcography by Maso Finiguerra, to the Time of Marc' Antonio Raimondi. vol. 2, London, John and Arthur Arch by J. McCreery, 1816, pp. 507-508.
1864: Passavant, Johann David. Le Peintre Graveur. vol. 5, Leipzig, R. Weigel, 1864, p. 77, no. 17.
1902: Kristeller, Andrea. Andrea Mantegna. Berlin, Cosmos, 1902, pp. 414ff.
1923: Borenius, Tancred. Four Early Italian Engravers. London, The Medici Society, 1923, p. 20, no. 4.
1930: Petrucci, Alfredo. "Andrea Mantegna incisore". Debalo: rassegna d’arte. Anno. 11, vol. 1, fasc. 7, 1930, pp. 412-428, pp. 413-415.
1955: Tietze-Conrat, Erika. Mantegna: Paintings, Drawings, Engravings. London, Phaidon Press, 1955, pl. 100.
1964: Bober, Phyllis Pray. "An antique sea-thiasos in the Renaissance". Essays in memory of Karl Lehmann. Lehmann, Karl; Sandler, Lucy Freeman; New York University, Institute of Fine Arts, eds. New York, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1964, pp. 43-48, p. 48.
1966: De Meesterwerken van de Europese prentkunst 1410-1914 (exh. cat.). Boon, Karel Gerard; Hébert, Monique; Wegner, Wolfgang; Verbeek, Jan, et al. Haus der Kunst München, Munich, 16 October, 1965 – 6 January, 1966; Bibliothèque Nationale Paris, Paris, 28 January – 24 March, 1966; Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 7 April – 12 June, 1966. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 1966, p. 37, no. 28.
1972: Adhémar, Jean; Sakamoto, Mitsuru; Yoshikawa Itsuji, eds. Gravure d'Occident des origines à nos jours. vol. 1, Tokyo, Chikuma Shobo, 1972 (in Japanese and French), pp. 28- 29, nos. 73, 213.
1973: Levenson, Jay A.; Oberhuber, Konrad; Sheehan, Jacquelyn L. Early Italian Engravings from the National Gallery of Art (exh. cat.). Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1973, cat. no. 75.
1976: Jacobsen, Michael Anthony. The Engravings of Mantegna, New York, Columbia University, 1976, Ph. D, pp. 56, 226.
1977: Vickers, Michael. "The sources of invidia in Mantegna’s Battle of the sea gods". Apollo. vol. 106, no. 188, October 1977, pp. 270-273.
1982: Jacobsen, Michael Anthony. "The meaning of mantegna’s ‘Battle of Sea Monsters’". Art Bulletin, vol. 64, no. 4, December 1982, pp. 623-629.
1983: Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 16 (1981), 1983, Yaegashi, Haruki. On the New Acquisitions 1981. p. 12, Catalogue of the New Acquisitions. pp. 21-22, repr.
1984: Zucker, Mark J. Early Italian Masters: Ill. Bartsch, vol. 25, Commentary vol. 13, part. 2. New York, Abaris Books, 1984, 2506.004, pp. 90-92.
1986: Lightbown, Ronaldo. Mantegna: with a complete catalogue of the paintings, drawings and prints. oxford, Phaidon Christie’s, 1986, pp. 240-241, 490-491.
1989: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1989 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), cat. no. 115
1992: Osano, Shigetoshi. Antiquity in Memory: The Reception of Antique in the Art of the Renaissance. Tokyo, Chuo-Koron Bijutu Shuppan Co., Ltd, 1992, pp. 239-240 note 188, fig. 167, note 288.
1992: Andrea Mantegna (exh. cat.). Martineau, Jane; Boorsch, Suzanne; Christiansen, Keith; Ekserdjian; Hope, Charles; Landau, David, et al. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 17 January – 5 April, 1992; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 9 May – 12 July, 1992. Milano, Electa, 1992, pp. 285-287, no. 79.
1993: Six Centuries of Master Prints: Treasures from the Herbert Greer French collection (exh. cat.). Spangenberg, Kristin L.; Cincinnati Art Museum, eds. Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, 15 January – 11 April, 1993. Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum, 1993, pp. 16-19, no. 17a.
1994: Landau, David; Parshall, Peter. The Renaissance Print: 1470-1550. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1994, pp. 70-71.
1994: Landau, David. "Printmaking in the age of Lorenzo". Florentine Drawing at the Time of Lorenzo the Magnificent: papers from a colloquium held at the Villa Spelman, Florence, 1992. Cropper, Elizabeth, ed. Bologna, Nuova Alfa, 1994 (Villa Spelman colloquia, vol. 4), pp. 178-179.
1997: Agosti, Giovanni. "Su Mantegna, 6. (Lombardia)". Prospettiva. Vol. 85, January 1997, pp. 59-90, pp. 68, 86 note 72.
1997: Resonating Love and Life: European Art from The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). Hiraishi, Masako; Kirihara, Hiroshi, eds. The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Nagaoka, 12 April – 18 May, 1997. Nagaoka, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art; The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1997, p. 73, no. 42.
1998: Stampe di maestri: cento capolavori della Raccolta Bertarelli da Mantegna a Morandi (exh. cat.). Bellini, Paolo, ed. Palazzo Reale, Milano, 16 April – 28 June, 1998. Milano, Electa, 1998, pp. 26-29, no. 3.
1999: Oberhuber, Konrad. "Mantegna e li ruolo delle stampe: un prototipo di innovazione artistica in italia e al Nord". Il Rinascimento a Venezia e la pittura del Nord ai tempi di Bellini, Dürer, Tiziano. Aikema, Bernard; Brown, Beverly Louise, eds. Venezia, Bompiani, 1999, pp. 145-149, p. 148.
1999: Lambert, Gisèle. Les premières gravures italiennes Quattrocento - début du Cinquecento: inventaire de la collection du département des Estampes et de la Photographie. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 1999, p. 198, no. 403.
2001: Fletcher, S. "A closer look at Mantegna’s prints". Print Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 1, March 2001, pp. 3-41, pp. 30-33.
2001: Joannides, Paul. Titian to 1518: The Assumption of Genius. New Haven, Yale University Press, 2001, pp. 68-69, no. 53.
2003: Les dieux comme les hommes: la Renaissance dans la gravure germanique au début du XVIe siècle: un choix de Jean-Louis Schefer dans les collections du Cabinet des estampes et des dessins des Musées de Strasbourg (exh. cat.). Schefer, Jean Louis; Château des Rohan; Musées de Strasbourg, eds. Musées de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, 7 February – 27 April, 2003. Strasbourg, Musées de Beaux-arts, Palais Rohan, 2003, pp. 85, 208.
2003: Le Siècle de Titien: gravures vénitiennes de la Renaissance (exh. cat.). Sman, Gert Jan van; Bonnefantenmuseum; Groeningemuseum, eds. Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, 17 November, 2002 – 16 February, 2003; Hôtel Arents, Bruges, 1 March – 26 May, 2003. Zwolle, Waanders Uitgevers, 2003, pp. 30-31, no. I. 4.
2005: Agosti, Giovanni. Su Mantegna. vol. 1, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2005, pp. 44-45, 56, 398.
2006: Mantegna e le arti a Verona 1450-1500 (exh. cat.). Marinelli, Sergio; Marini, Paola, eds. Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Verona, 16 September, 2006 - 14 January, 2007. Venezia, Marsilio, 2006, pp. 230-233, no. 21.
2011: The Locus of Art: Aesthetics of Seiro Mayekawa from Dürer to Tsune Nakamura(exh. cat.). [Nagaoka], Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, 2011, cat. no. 59, repr.

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