Pictorial and Virtual simulation of Andrea Mantegna's fresco The Wedding Chamber through a mixed reality environment installation

Abstract

Andrea Mantegna's influence over the Renaissance's naturalistic rendition of the space is fundamental, and his works continued to inspire in the next centuries different schools of painting in Europe. His use of the concept of “Trompe L'oeil,” [1] inaugurates a proto-technological system that expands the architectural space of the fresco's technique to illusionistic dimensions. However, recent studies have discovered that some of his frescos depict a more complex representation inspired by writers from the classical world, seeking to immerse the viewers in a more literary narrative and visual perceptions [2]. Those masterpieces followed an ambitious desire to play with illusion as a device to expand their pictorial narrative beyond their formal physical boundaries. That is the case expressed in the series of frescos located at The Palazzo Ducale di Mantova Italy. These painted images are known as the “Camera Picta,” “Wedding Chamber”, or La Camera degli Sposi. A particular component of these frescos is the application of “di sotto in sù” (seen from below), which represents in a painted vaulted ceiling an opened sky seen through an oculus shape, depicting characters glancing down. Andrea Mantegna playfully organizes this effect and suggests a perception that goes beyond the mere effect of illusion articulating complex and opposed vantage points. The installation described in this paper commits a full and interactive approach to the topics described above.