Andrea Mantegna (ca. 1430-1506), painter and engraver, was the leading artist of the school of Padua and one of the most important early Renaissance Italian masters.

Andrea Mantegna, the son of the carpenter Biagio, was born at Isola di Carturo about halfway between Padua and Vicenza. The inscription on a lost altarpiece he executed (the inscription was preserved in written records) in 1447 states that the artist was 17. His name appeared on the painters' roll for Padua between 1441 and 1445 as an apprentice and adopted son of Francesco Squarcione. It was not unusual for childless masters to adopt promising apprentices. In 1448 Mantegna left Squarcione's household and established himself as an independent artist.

Seven years later Mantegna went to court to dissolve their relationship. He declared that he had earned more than 400 ducats for Squarcione and sued for reimbursement of the money. Squarcione contested Mantegna's suit, citing an agreement they had...