COSTA, Lorenzo the Elder
(b. ca. 1460, Ferrara, d. 1535, Mantova)

Court of Isabella d'Este

c. 1506
Oil on canvas, 164 x 197 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Lorenzo Costa was a pupil of Cosmè Tura. After Ferrara he worked in Bologna and later in the court of the Gonzaga family in Mantua. This allegoric painting was commissioned for decorating the study of Isabella d'Este. It was intended to be the companion piece of Mantegna's Parnassus.