Andrea Mantegna was the master of the early Renaissance in Italy and is renowned for his perspective studies and his ability to convey optical illusions of space in his works. Mantegna carried out commissions for the church, and was also active as a court painter in Mantua.
The artistic development in Italy during the Renaissance was marked by an interest in antiquity. The motif for The Senators was based on a series of frescoes that Mantegna carried out to document the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar’s victory in the Gallic Wars c. 58–51 B.C. The print, probably by an artist from Mantegna’s own workshop, is based on a drawing made specifically for this purpose.
