In this artwork, how is the Style, subject and description of the San Zeno Altarpiece discussed?
The San Zeno Altarpiece is often considered to be a pictorial rendition of the artist Donatello's sculpted bronze reliefs (known as the Santo Altarpiece) made for the high altar dedicated to Sant'Antonio (c. 1446-1453) in the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua. While sometimes described as "lost" this work by Donatello survives but was incorrectly restored in the 19th century, thereby losing some of the artist's initial design and it has been argued by scholars that Mategna's work may better illustrate what Donatello originally intended.Mantegna incorporated noticeably bright and rich colors of reds, blues, yellows and green that was likely a reaction to earlier critics who had negatively commented on the opaque colors in the famous frescos painted from 1454 to 1457 (destroyed in 1944) in the Ovetari Chapel. Despite seeing other artists change their color schemes he stuck to his own ideas and own techniques, which differentiated Mantegna from other Renaissance artists. The scholars Steven Zucker and Beth Harris note that the ancient, classical "past" is mostly painted in shades of grays, painted in the style of grisaille (an exception is the colorful garlands of fruit that are tied with red ribbons), while the Christian elements, show in the "present", are denoted by the use of bright, saturating colors.The altarpiece consists of a frame, a central painting separated into three main sections, and on the bottom, a predella with three paintings that depict biblical scenes.
Donatello Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua altarpiece predella Altarpiece grisaille Ovetari Chapel