Andrea Mantegna was a Renaissance artist whose unique blend of perspective, trompe l’oeil, and Classical antiquity, combined to create a sense of pictorial unity in his works. These attributes are perhaps most prominent in his The Camera Picta (painted chamber) (1465–1474), a suite of paintings which included an illusionistic oculus and multiple painted walls. Another notable work is The Dead Christ and Three Mourners (1470–1474), in which Mantegna used foreshortening to give the viewer a sense they are at the feet of Christ on his deathbed. Born c. 1431 in Isola di Carturo, Italy, he apprenticed with Francesco Squarcione at a young age. During his formative years in Padua, the artist’s main influences included ancient Roman works, the sculptures of Donatello, and the paintings of his brother-in-law Giovanni Bellini. In 1459, he entered into the service of Ludovica Gonzaga the Marchese of Mantua, from whom he received an allowance in exchange for unlimited commissions. This close relationship with the Gonzagas, allowed the artist a privileged position in society. Though he traveled to Rome in the late 1480s, the majority of his life was spent as the painter of three generations of Gonzagas. Mantegna died on September 13, 1506 in Mantua, Italy. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among others.