Andrea Mantegna was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality. His flinty, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony figures give evidence of a fundamentally sculptural approach to painting, he led a workshop, the leading producer of prints in Venice before 1500. Mantegna was born in Isola di Carturo, Venetian Republic close to Padua, second son of a carpenter, Biagio. At the age of eleven he became the apprentice of Paduan painter Francesco Squarcione. Squarcione, whose original profession was tailoring, appears to have had a remarkable enthusiasm for ancient art, a faculty for acting. Like his famous compatriot Petrarca, Squarcione was an ancient Rome enthusiast: he traveled in Italy, also in Greece, collecting antique statues, vases, etc. making drawings from them himself making available his collection for others to study.

All the while, he continued undertaking works on commission, to which his pupils, no less than himself, contributed. As many as 137 painters and pictorial students passed through Squarcione's school, established around 1440 and which became famous all over Italy. Padua attracted artists not only from the Veneto but from Tuscany, such as Paolo Uccello, Filippo Lippi and Donatello. At the time, Mantegna was said to be a favorite pupil of Squarcione, who taught him Latin and instructed him to study fragments of Roman sculpture; the master preferred forced perspective, recollection of which may account for some of Mantegna's innovations. However, at the age of seventeen Mantegna left Squarcione's workshop, he claimed that Squarcione had profited from his work without sufficient payment. Mantegna's first work, now lost, was an altarpiece for the church of Santa Sofia in 1448; the same year he was called, together with Nicolò Pizolo, to work with a large group of painters entrusted with the decoration of the Ovetari Chapel in the transept of the church of the Eremitani.

It is probable, that before this time some of the pupils of Squarcione, including Mantegna, had begun the series of frescoes in the chapel of S. Cristoforo, in the church of Sant'Agostino degli Eremitani, which are today considered a masterpiece. After a series of coincidences, Mantegna finished most of the work alone, though Ansuino, who collaborated with Mantegna in the Ovetari Chapel, brought his style from the Forlì school of painting; the now critical Squarcione carped about the earlier works of this series, illustrating the life of St James. This series was entirely lost in the 1944 Allied bombings of Padua; the most dramatic work of the fresco cycle was the work set in the worm's-eye view perspective, St. James Led to His Execution; the sketch for the St. Stephen fresco survived and is the earliest known preliminary sketch which still survives to compare with the corresponding fresco; the drawing shows proof that nude figures—which were painted as clothed—were used in the conception of works during the Early Renaissance.

In the preliminary sketch, the perspective is less developed and closer to a more average viewpoint however. Despite the authentic Classical look of the monument, it is not a copy of any known Roman structure. Mantegna adopted the wet drapery patterns of the Romans, who took the form from the Greek invention, for the clothing of his figures, although the tense figures and interactions are derived from Donatello. Among the other early Mantegna frescoes are the two saints over the entrance porch of the church of Sant'Antonio in Padua, 1452, the 1453 San Luca Altarpiece, with St. Luke and other saints, for the church of S. Giustina and now in the Brera Gallery in Milan; as the young artist progressed in his work, he came under the influence of Jacopo Bellini, father of the celebrated painters Giovanni Bellini and Gentile Bellini, met his daughter Nicolosia. In 1453 Jacopo consented to a marriage between Mantegna. Andrea seems to have been influenced by his old preceptor's strictures, although his subjects, for example, those from the legend of St. Christopher, combine his sculptural style with a greater sense of naturalism and vivacity.

Trained as he had been in the study of marbles and the severity of the antique, Mantegna avowed that he considered ancient art superior to nature as being more eclectic in form. As a result, the painter exercised precision in outline. Overall, Mantegna's work thus tended towards rigidity, demonstrating an austere wholeness rather than graceful sensitivity of expression, his draperies are tight and folded, being studied from models draped in paper and woven fabrics gummed in place. His figures are slim and bony. Tawny landscape, gritty with littering pebbles, marks the athletic hauteur of his style. Mantegna never changed the manner which he had adopted in Padua, though his coloring—at first neutral and undecided—strengthened and matured. Throughout his works there is more balancing of color than fi

Nicola Mignogna was an Italian politician and a significant contributor of “Risorgimento”. He was born in Taranto, Southern Italy, but moved to Naples to attend jurisprudence studies, his life takes place during the conspiracy plots which characterised the south of Italy from 1848 to 1870. Little is known about Benedetto Musolino e Luigi Settembrini's “Figlioli della Giovane Italia” sect, however Mignogna's collaboration with Settembrini is documented in the “Unità d'Italia” sect in the years 1848-49 with his task being the typographical reproduction of the revolutionary flyers and its spreading in the provinces. Mignogna was released a few months later. Arrested in 1851, Mignogna was released months as his crimes were considered unproven. Coordinator of the revolutionary Neapolitan committee, Mignogna conspired between May 1854 and the beginning of 1855 with Casimiro De Lieto, in exhile in Genoa, to overthrow Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, plan which seemed to have, thanks to the political movement originated with Lucien Murat, a small chance of being successful.

He was arrested again on July 26, 1855, but he didn't reveal the conspiracy plot nor the collaborators' names under torture. Other defendants confessed and through the deciphering of certain letters, it became clear that Mignogna was at the core of the revolutionary machine in the Neapolitan's region. After a trial known in England as "Mignogna's case", which shook the European democratic environment, he was condemned to exile. In Genoa, in the years 1856-1857, Carlo Pisacane made use of Mignogna's Neapolitan logistics knowledge to study with Giuseppe Mazzini a new insurrectional plan which, according to the conspirators' intentions, should have involved Naples and the regions of Cilento and Basilicata, which were the centers where the feelings against the near-dictatorial power of Ferdinand II were felt the most. Pisacane refused the help of Lucien Murat's collaborators and his expedition ended unsuccessfully, for various reasons and unfortunate coincidences. During the preparation of Pisacane's expedition, the assistance from the employees of Naples's embassy was valuable, as they were responsible for the mail delivery between Genoa and Naples, redirecting it first to Malta, where it was marked as diplomatic mail, therefore hiding the true conspiratory contents of the letters.

It is worth to note that English Ambassador William Temple, brother of Prime minister Lord Palmerston, helped by his secretary George Fagan, despite never being directly involved supported the Neapolitan's patriots. In 1859, Mignogna travelled between Genoa e Florence, remaining in contact with Mazzini, to support the insurgence which arose in the Tuscany and Romagna regions in that year; this movement was however stopped by the king of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel's warning to Giuseppe Garibaldi. In February 1860, representing the Genoa's revolutionaries, Mignogna went to Caprera to relief Garibaldi and encourage him to resume his fight for Italy's unification. Mignogna's support towards Garibaldi led to a first few steps towards an expedition to Sicily, which became the Expedition of the Thousand; as part of the Expedition of the Thousand to Marsala, he followed Garibaldi to Palermo, covering the charge of the Thousand's treasurer. He was sent to Genoa by Garibaldi to plan an insurgence in the region of Lazio.

He travelled to Naples to promote the revolution in the region of Basilicata. In 1862 Mignogna was with Garibaldi in Aspromonte, he died in 1870 in Giugliano in Campania, near Naples

Julia Helen Banks is an Australian lawyer and politician. Elected as the member for Chisholm in the Australian House of Representatives at the 2016 federal election, Banks was the only candidate for the governing Liberal-National Coalition to win a seat held by an opposition party; the previous member, Labor's Anna Burke, had held the seat since 1998 and did not stand for re-election in 2016. Following the Liberal Party leadership spill in August 2018 that saw Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull replaced by Scott Morrison, Banks stated she would not contest the 2019 federal election, she unsuccessfully contested the seat of Flinders at the 2019 election, pitting her against government frontbencher Greg Hunt. Banks was raised in Melbourne, her parents are both of Greek heritage and her father migrated to Australia from Greece as a 15-year-old. She studied Law at Monash University, graduating in 1984 and 1986, respectively, she has graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Banks worked as a lawyer in private practice principally in litigation and joined Hoechst Australia Limited as Corporate Counsel.

From 1992, she worked at Kraft Foods, rising from General Counsel to Senior Counsel and becoming the Director for Corporate Affairs. From 2009 to 2014, Banks served as General Counsel and Company Secretary for GlaxoSmithKline Australasia taking on the role of Head of Compliance and Risk Management. In 2014, she moved to George Weston Foods where she served as the Chief General Counsel and Company Secretary, she has been a member of the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property and a Director of the Australian Made company. Banks was elected to the House of Representatives as the Member for Chisholm at the 2016 federal election. Traditionally a marginal seat, Banks won 45.3% of the first preference votes and was elected with 51.2% of the two-party-preferred vote, defeating the Labor candidate Stefanie Perri. She succeeded Labor's Anna Burke, who had held the seat since 1998 and had announced in 2015 she was retiring from politics. Banks was the only candidate for the governing Liberal-National Coalition to win a seat held by an opposition party at the 2016 election.

Banks' knife-edge victory was critical in allowing the Coalition to eke out a bare majority of one seat after suffering a 14-seat swing. Since her election, Banks has served on two standing committees of the House, dealing with Economics and Social Policy and Legal Affairs, she became chair of the latter committee in February 2018. In July 2017, Banks' Greek heritage led to her being one of several members of parliament to come under scrutiny over the possibility that they held another citizenship by descent. Dual citizens are ineligible to be elected or sit as a member of parliament under section 44 of the Australian Constitution; the Liberal Party moved to investigate and clarify Banks' citizenship status, as her seat in the House of Representatives was critical to the Turnbull government's one-seat majority. The Liberal Party stated that it confirmed with the Greek Embassy in Australia that Banks is not registered as a Greek citizen. In October 2017, Banks re-confirmed her support for same-sex marriage in an opinion-editorial in The Age, citing her passion "about equality for all...because marriage equality is about love and fairness" in a Facebook post linking to the article.

In May 2018, during a radio discussion of Newstart unemployment allowance, she was called "out of touch" after she said she could live on $40 a day leading to calls for her to be challenged to do so. In August 2018, following the Liberal Party leadership crisis that saw Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull replaced by Scott Morrison, Banks announced that she would not contest the seat of Chisholm at the next federal election, she described the ousting of Turnbull from the Prime Ministership as the "last straw" and cited a "cultural and gender bias and intimidation" of women in politics. In the statement which she posted on Twitter announcing her decision, Banks stated that she had been subjected to "bullying and intimidation... both from within my own party and from the Labor party" and was supported by Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer who stated that workplace bullying is unacceptable in any workplace, including parliament. Incoming Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his deputy Josh Frydenberg attempted to persuade Banks not to quit, but Banks was adamant that she would not remain after the "vindictive" behaviour and "internal political games factional party figures, self-proclaimed power-brokers and certain media personalities."Morrison subsequently expressed concern for Banks' welfare, promised to stamp out bullying within the Liberal party, thanked her for not quitting parliament so that there will not be need for a by-election for her marginal seat.

Craig Kelly, among the first to call for the spill in support of unsuccessful challenger Peter Dutton, criticised Banks' decision in a Sky News interview and defended politics as a "rough-and-tumble game." Political journalist Malcolm Farr described Banks' announcement as a "blistering farewell" that gives "an indication of the heavy toll this week of chaos and political thuggery will have on the party." He went on to state that the anti-Turnbull plotters employed "a strategy of bullying and intimidation" and have been "eventually proved to have an incompetence to match their brutality a disaster for the parliamentary party."On 27 November 2018, Banks announced in a speech on the floor of the House of Repr