This paper discusses the San Zeno Altarpiece by Andrea Mantegna, commissioned by the abbot Gregorio Correr for the Basilica di San Zeno in Verona. Specifically, this paper reconsiders the particularity of the altarpiece by studying the conceptual origin of its form and spatial composition with regard to the Flemish art that Andrea Mantegna would have seen in Ferrara. Many scholars have revealed that this altarpiece is derived from two Paduan altarpieces, the high altar of the Basilica di Sant’Antonio in Padua by Donatello and the Pala of the Ovetari Chapel by Nicolo Pizzolò, which address the same subject, sacra conversazione (sacred conversation), as Mantegna’s altarpiece. However, this study investigates another source of the altarpiece’s pictorial representation and framework, especially in the artworks of van der Weyden.

The aforementioned observations indicate that the San Zeno Altarpiece by Mantegna created a new and realistic sacra conversazione by absorbing the Flemish realistic representation of space and expanding the Tuscan classical form. As a result, the San Zeno Altarpiece served as a unique and magnificent iconographical model for the sacra conversazione in Veneto, characterized by a complex spatial composition and a solemn throne.