DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42861#0160
126
PROCESSION IN HONOUR
chapel was ready to receive Messer Andrea’s altar-
piece. The painter on this part worked more rapidly
than usual, taking pleasure in his subject and incited
by the prospect of the large reward that was await-
ing him, and on the anniversary of the battle of
the Taro, the great Madonna was borne in triumph
from Mantegna’s house near San Sebastiano to the
new shrine on the site of the Jew’s house, at the
other end of the town. Francesco himself was
absent in the kingdom of Naples at the time, but
the Marchesa and Sigismondo resolved to make the
ceremony as imposing as possible, and their letters
to the Marquis show that their efforts were attended
with complete success. On the 10th of July,
Isabella wrote: “ The figure of Our Lady, which
Andrea Mantegna has painted, was carried from
his house in procession last Wednesday, being the
6th of this month, to the new chapel of S. Maria
della Vittoria, in commemoration of last year’s
battle and of your gallant deeds, and greater crowds
assembled than I have ever seen at any procession
in this town. My confessor, Fra Pietro, made
a fine oration at high mass, and spoke in a
maimer appropriate to the occasion, begging the
glorious Virgin Mary to keep Your Excellency safe
and bring you home victorious. Owing to my
present condition, I could not walk on foot in the
procession, but I went to the Borgo to see it pass,
and returned to the Castello by the new chapel,
which is well adorned, and the road was thronged
with people.”1
Sigismondo adds a few particulars of interest.
1 Archivio Gonzaga, quoted by Portioli, La Cliiesa e la Madonna
della Vittoria in Mantova, p. 21.
PROCESSION IN HONOUR
chapel was ready to receive Messer Andrea’s altar-
piece. The painter on this part worked more rapidly
than usual, taking pleasure in his subject and incited
by the prospect of the large reward that was await-
ing him, and on the anniversary of the battle of
the Taro, the great Madonna was borne in triumph
from Mantegna’s house near San Sebastiano to the
new shrine on the site of the Jew’s house, at the
other end of the town. Francesco himself was
absent in the kingdom of Naples at the time, but
the Marchesa and Sigismondo resolved to make the
ceremony as imposing as possible, and their letters
to the Marquis show that their efforts were attended
with complete success. On the 10th of July,
Isabella wrote: “ The figure of Our Lady, which
Andrea Mantegna has painted, was carried from
his house in procession last Wednesday, being the
6th of this month, to the new chapel of S. Maria
della Vittoria, in commemoration of last year’s
battle and of your gallant deeds, and greater crowds
assembled than I have ever seen at any procession
in this town. My confessor, Fra Pietro, made
a fine oration at high mass, and spoke in a
maimer appropriate to the occasion, begging the
glorious Virgin Mary to keep Your Excellency safe
and bring you home victorious. Owing to my
present condition, I could not walk on foot in the
procession, but I went to the Borgo to see it pass,
and returned to the Castello by the new chapel,
which is well adorned, and the road was thronged
with people.”1
Sigismondo adds a few particulars of interest.
1 Archivio Gonzaga, quoted by Portioli, La Cliiesa e la Madonna
della Vittoria in Mantova, p. 21.