Mural painting of the funeral chapel of Andrea Mantegna

Correggio's mural painting for the funeral chapel of Andrea Mantegna, created around 1507, is one of his earliest documented works. The commission to decorate the chapel of the great master who had recently died was a remarkable tribute to the young Correggio's emerging talent in Mantua. Mantegna had dominated painting in northern Italy for five decades, and to be entrusted with his memorial chapel placed the young artist in direct artistic dialogue with the tradition he was inheriting. The chapel is located within the Basilica of Sant'Andrea in Mantua, one of Alberti's masterpieces of Renaissance architecture, a setting that demanded works of corresponding dignity. The influence of Mantegna's own illusionistic techniques and archaeological approach to antiquity is still visible in the young painter's efforts, but Correggio was already developing the softer, more atmospheric manner that would characterize his mature style. The work remains in its original devotional context, providing a rare opportunity to see the early Correggio in the setting for which it was designed.

This early fresco work shows Correggio's initial engagement with mural painting that would later reach its apogee in the dome frescoes of Parma, with the influence of Mantegna's own illusionistic techniques still visible.