Andrea Mantegna 1431-1506
Andrea Mantegna was, next to Masaccio, perhaps the most important painter of the Early Renaissance. He was also a genius. He was able, at the age of seventeen to execute commissions. He lived a long life, during which time he maintained a relatively consistent style. He did many frescoes, the most important of which, those in the Church of the Eremitani in Padua, were destroyed in an accidental bomb explosion in 1944. Mantegna was heavily influenced by Donatello, whom he had personal contact with during his education.