Mantua, Ducal Palace:
"Camera Picta: the Meeting in theSouthwestern Wall."

The Southwestern wall, known as the "Meeting", is similarly divided into three sections. In the rightmost section, the actual "meeting" takes place, in the central one, some putti hold a dedicatory plaque, and in the leftmost one, the Marquis' court parades, continuing with two figures also in the central section: these last are represented in the narrow space between the pillar and the actual cornice of the door, demonstrating the difficult and effectively achieved interpenetration between the real world and the painted world. In the pillar between the meeting and the putti, hidden among the grisaille, is a self-portrait of Mantegna as a mask.
In the Meeting, Marquis Ludovico Gonzaga is represented, this time in official attire, next to his son Francesco, a cardinal. Below them are the sons of Federico I Gonzaga, Francesco and Sigismondo, while the father is on the far right: the generous folds of his robe are a stratagem to hide his kyphosis. Federico is in conversation with two figures, identified by some as Christian I of Denmark and Frederick III of Habsburg (brother-in-law of Ludovico II, being the husband of Dorothea of Brandenburg, sister of Barbara), figures that well represent the family's pride in its royal kinship. The boy in the center, finally, is the Marquis' last male child, the protonotary Ludovico, who holds the hand of his cardinal brother and nephew, the future cardinal, representing the branch of the family destined for an ecclesiastical career. The scene has a certain fixity, determined by the static nature of the figures portrayed in profile or three-quarters to emphasize the importance of the moment. In the background, there is an ideal view of Rome, in which the Colosseum, the Pyramid of Cestius, the Theatre of Marcellus, the Nomentan Bridge, etc. can be recognized. The choice of the Eternal City was symbolic: it underlined the strong bond between the dynasty and Rome, reinforced by the cardinal's appointment, and could also be a good omen for the cardinal as a possible future pope. On the right, there is also a grotto where some stonecutters are at work sculpting blocks and columns. In the extreme right, in the splay of the window, there is a false marble panel, furrowed by veins among which the date June 16, 1465, is hidden, painted as a fake graffiti and usually interpreted as the starting date of the works. In the decorations of the pilaster, between the right and central sections, a man's face is hidden, which is believed to be a self-portrait of Andrea Mantegna.
The central section is occupied by putti holding the dedicatory plaque. It reads: "ILL. LODOVICO II M.M. / PRINCIPI OPTIMO AC / FIDE INVICTISSIMO / ET ILL. BARBARAE EJUS / CONIUGI MVLIERVM GLOR. / INCOMPARABILI / SVVS ANDREAS MANTINIA / PATAVVS OPVS HOC TENVE / AD EORV DECVS ABSOLVIT / ANNO MCCCCLXXIIII". In addition to the artist's "public" signature, who declares himself "Paduan", it reads the date 1474, generally indicated as the end of the works, and words of flattery towards Ludovico Gonzaga ("most illustrious... excellent prince and of unshakeable faith") and his wife Barbara ("incomparable glory of women").
In the left section, the procession of pages and courtiers continues, accompanied by a splendid horse among fantastic landscapes and ruins of castles. In the last restoration, under the large natural arch, a caravan of the Magi was rediscovered, painted dry and already covered in dirt, perhaps added to indicate the winter season of the Meeting, despite the lush vegetation, which, however, also includes some orange trees, which bloom at the end of the year. On the left, a long side strip is missing, which had been covered by an eighteenth-century repainting: the restorations have confirmed the complete loss of the paintings, where a figure of which a hand can still be seen was hidden.