The Triumph of Fame, plate three from the Triumphs of Petrarch

Petrarch’s beloved poem about Fame lends itself well to being illustrated as a parade, and so Pencz could easily have adopted this imagery of ancient triumphal processions from recent works in print and paint by the late-15th-century artist Andrea Mantegna. Indeed, Pencz visited Mantua during his trip to Italy and may have seen some of Mantegna’s work there. Pencz’s curiously squat and diminutive elephants, stubby human figures, and oversize sculptural remnants all suggest a familiarity with Mantegna’s dramatic perspectives and cast of historical characters.