MANTEGNA, Andrea
(b. 1431, Isola di Carturo, d. 1506, Mantova)

Scenes from the Life of St James (scene 6)

1448-57
Fresco
Cappella Ovetari, Chiesa degli Eremitani, Padua

This badly damaged fresco, showing the Martyrdom of St James, was transferred to canvas in 1886-91), and thus combined with a copy of the original. The Apostle James is seen lying along the bottom edge of the painting, a device to draw us into the scene unfolding immediately before us. The moment depicted is the instant before the martyrdom takes place.