A Woman Drinking
- Artist: Andrea Mantegna
- Date: about 1495-1506
- Medium: egg tempera on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the "A Woman Drinking" painted in the Italian north by Andrea Mantegna. It's a painting of Sophonisba, an ill-fated but brave Carthaginian princess, who drains a glass of poison. You can see that areas hit by the imaginary light coming from the left are bright and gleaming, while creases are much darker, creating the illusion that the figure is sculpted. Mantegna was showing off his skill here, as he could create a figure that looks hard and solid using paint alone, just like a bronze relief. This painting likely decorates the studiolo of Mantegna's patron Isabella d'Este, and it may have been paired with another of Mantegna's works, "Tuccia".
See it in person
A Woman Drinking hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
