Antonio da Correggio

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Born: 1489

Died: 1534

Summary of Antonio da Correggio

The Parma School’s greatest painter, Antonio da Correggio, lived to be just 40 years old and left a little body of work that has been verified. Although Correggio took inspiration from Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Mantegna as a young painter in the High Renaissance, he managed to produce oil paintings and frescos that had a unique trademark style of his own. Because of the dramatic effects he achieved via the use of chiaroscuro and other perspective techniques, his religious and mythical storey paintings had a sense of visual drama that predated the rise of Baroque and Rococo styles by a century or two. Even conservative patrons of the time praised Correggio’s work as a magnificent colorist because of the delicate delicacy with which he handled the tales of his sensual mythologies.

Many of Correggio’s early works, such as Madonna and Child with Saint Francis (1514), demonstrated his enormous skill and ability to paint in harmony with other great Northern Italian Masters. Giorgio Vasari, a renowned Renaissance art historian, said of Correggio’s use of linear perspective, chiaroscuro, and sfumato that “no craftsman ever painted with greater delicacy or with more relief” than the Italian master.

Correggio is credited for converting dome interiors into magnificent whirling symphonia-like compositions via works like The Vision of St. John on Patmos (1520-23) and The Assumption of the Virgin (1524-30). Di sotto in su foreshortening combined with dramatic lighting techniques gave the spectator the impression of being literally “pulled upward” towards paradise. His stunningly dramatic dome frescos served as a major inspiration for many of the greatest Baroque artists of the seventeenth century.

Oil paintings by Correggio, such as Leda and the Swan (1531-32), have a tangible feeling of seduction and sensuality, especially in his later mythological themes. For a man who, according to Vasari, was a melancholic and a devout man, Correggio produced paintings that, in their day, might have been regarded as pornographic if they hadn’t been painted with such delicacy and lightness of touch by the artist that they were elevated to the realm of wonderous beauty.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Correggio’s contribution to the evolution of painting by using mythical and agnostic themes. As a counterweight to his lines and to achieve a delicate equilibrium between nature and art, he used soft and delicate colour contours.

Childhood

Correggio was born Antonio Allegri, but he went by the name Correggio after his birthplace in northern Italy’s Correggio, which is sometimes shortened to Reggio. His grandfather, Domenico, was banished from Florence in 1433 because of his vocal opposition to Cosimo de’ Medici, a prominent banker and politician. His father’s ancestry is said to have come from Florence.

Little is known about the early life of Correggio’s father, Pellegrino Allegri, although it is thought that he was a local merchant. His mother’s identity remains a mystery. Some historians think that Correggio learned how to paint from his uncle Lorenzo Allegri, who was a modestly successful painter in his own right (but for whom there are no surviving works). It’s possible that he studied under local artists Quirino Allegri (his cousin) and Antonio Bartolotti, who are both said to have been his mentors.

Early Life

Correggio apprenticed under Francesco Bianchi Ferrara in Modena from 1503 to 1505, who had been educated by Cosimo Tura, an early Renaissance painter and co-founder of the School of Ferrara. Small-scale panels commissioned by churches and monasteries in Correggio’s early career demonstrate a high level of anatomical ability as well as architectural ability as well as an eye for perspective and sculpture. These early works show the influence of Lorenzo Costa, Francesco Francia, and Leonardo da Vinci. It wasn’t long before Correggio was experimenting with wall paintings of his own and his frescos began to acquire notoriety.

Mantua had just lost one of its most famous early Renaissance painters when Correggio arrived in Mantua in 1506. A possible date for his Madonna and Child, which shows Costa and Mantegna’s influence, is 1510. Around Mantua’s Basilica of Sant’Andrea, where he also completed the decoration for the late Mantegna’s family chapel, Correggio likely painted two circular paintings (tondi), the Entombment of Christ and Madonna and Saints, in 1514. Despite the fact that his early works are infused with Mantegna’s knowledge, art professor Ellis K. Waterhouse claims that “Although his early works are pervaded with his knowledge of Mantegna’s art, his artistic temperament was more akin to that of Leonardo […] who had a commanding influence upon almost all of the Renaissance painters of northern Italy” It is also said that although “Mantegna uses tightly controlled line to define form, Correggio, like Leonardo, prefers chiaroscuro, or a subtle manipulation of light and shade creating softness of contour and an atmospheric effect” Waterhouse says this.

Mid Life

Following the success of the Nativity, Adoration of the Kings, and Christ Taking Leave of His Mother, Correggio went to Reggio in 1514 to finish an altapiece of the Madonna of St. Francis and a few other colourful religious works. Reggio and Parma became home for Correggio from 1515. His friendship with Mannerist painter Michelangelo Anselmi began in Parma, where they both lived. It’s a pity that Correggio didn’t take his skills to Rome because, in the words of art historian Giorgio Vasari, “he would have wrought miracles, and would have brought the sweat to the brow of many who were held to be great men in his time” if he had, Vasari thought. However, Correggio is known to have visited Rome in 1518-19 and examined the masterpieces of Raphael and Michelangelo while there. Some speculate that his idea for the Belvedere di Mantegna chapel came from a trip he had to the Vatican’s “lost” chapel. According to this theory, Correggio must have been in Milan at the same time as Leonardo, considering their mutual admiration for one other’s work.

Waterhouse says that in 1519, while still in Parma, Correggio painted the ceiling of the abbess’s room at the convent of San Paolo, which is when he began to develop his mature style. Girolama Francesca di Braghetis, a native of Reggio Emilia, married Correggio around 1519, and the couple had two children. Pomponio Allegri, the couple’s son, became a painter but lacked his father’s innate abilities. The untimely death of Girolama (in 1529) is a sad irony.

The cupola of the Benedictine church of San Giovanni Evangelista, designed by Correggio, was completed in 1520. According to St. John’s vision on Patmos, which depicts a storey from the book of Revelations, Christ descended from the heavens, framed by a golden sky that seemed to shine. The apostles were arranged in a circle around the outer border, with clouds above and behind them. Correggio’s fresco landed him a slew of lucrative new jobs. With Assumption of the Virgin (1524-30), Rubens’ latter masterwork, the spectator is pushed upward into the sky because of his excellent use of perspective and swirling arrangement in this work of art.

“The Baroque style of dramatically illusionistic ceiling painting,” which treats the “entire architectural surface as a single pictorial unit of vast proportions, equating the dome of the church with the vault of heaven,” was anticipated by The Vision of St. John on Patmos (and the Assumption of the Virgin,” according to Waterhouse). According to art historian Esperança Camara, “In the sacred architecture of the Roman and Byzantine empires, domes were viewed as symbols of heaven”

Late Life

The Assumption of the Virgin, which adorned the dome of Parma’s Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta between 1526 and 1530, is considered by many to be Correggio’s career-defining fresco. Di sotto in su (from below to above) is an illusionistic foreshortening technique he perfected here that will influence ecclesiastical dome frescos in the future. By showing Christ in severe foreshortening, with his young legs exposed, Correggio draws attention to Christ’s body and therefore to the Incarnation via Mary and the corporeal presence of Christ in the Eucharist, as Camara explains. With this fresco, Correggio visually reaffirmed Catholic doctrine that had been attacked during the first decade of the Protestant Reformation, in particular the doctrines of Transubstantiation [the change from bread and wine into Jesus Christ’s bodily substance], Mary’s status as an intercessor, and the Church’s role in redeemed humanity. The kingdom of heaven is what the clergy saw as they looked up at Correggio’s painting from the main altar or their choir seats.

The rest of Correggio’s major works, according to Waterhouse, are divided into three categories: “the great altarpieces” (and a few other large religious compositions); “exquisite small works of private devotion; and a few mythological subjects of a lyrically sensual character.” “Many of the altarpieces became so well-known that they acquired nicknames,” says Waterhouse. It’s known as Night (La Notte) for the Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1530) and Day for the Madonna of St. Jerome (Il Giorno). The personal and home atmosphere that pervades late altarpieces may be summarised in a single word: intimate. Small devotional works like The Madonna of the Basket and The Virgin Adoring the Child Jesus are distinguished by this personal and homely poetry, while the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine is a visual study on the ideal feminine beauty of the mid-16th century.”

In his last years, Correggio made a permanent return to Reggio, the city where he was born. Rather of writing on religion, he was now more interested in mythical ideas. Since Frederick the Great wanted to adorn his own “Ovid room” Correggio created his famous series of Jupiter’s loves, as recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, as a commission for him. In any case, Charles V, the Roman Emperor, was given the artwork as a gift. Leda with the Swan was one of Correggio’s most “sophisticated and sensuous” paintings, according to Classics professor Herica Valladares.

Vasari’s description of Correggio’s life paints a picture of an artist with poor self-esteem, despite the high quality of his work. The Venetian artist Vasari characterised Correggio as “very melancholy in his art practise” and “very timid by nature.” For all his arrogance [and] lack of self-esteem, he was an outstanding Christian who was happy with little. It’s believed that Correggio died on March 5th, 1534, however the circumstances surrounding his death should be viewed with suspicion. Frugal artist finished a job in Parma and was rewarded with copper coins totalling sixty scudi, which was very heavy to transport by hand. From Palma to his Reggio home, Correggio chose to walk the 37 kilometres. Correggio, parched from exertion, stumbled into a brook, where he later fell and perished. His burial at San Francesco Church one day after his death is certain.

Giorgio Vasari, a well-known Renaissance art historian, stated of Correggio that “Antonio most certainly deserved all praise and honour during his lifetime, and the greatest glory from the lips and pens of men after his death” despite his previous misgivings. Indeed, Correggio created a narrative structure that would come to epitomise the Baroque style, one that was both extremely beautiful and energetic. Innovators like Gaudenzio Ferrari, Giovanni Lanfranco, and Carlo Cignani all used di sotto in su foreshortening in their dome frescoes, which influenced later masterpieces like Gaudenzio Ferrari’s Glory of Angels (1534-35) in Saronno and Giovanni Lanfranco’s Assumption of the Virgin (1625-27) in Rome (the Forli cathedral in Romagna).

When it comes to the Mannerist school of painting, Correggio had numerous imitators, but no direct students that merit notice, according to Waterhouse. Even though the Baroque painters of the seventeenth century adopted many of Correggio’s decorative ideas, he also became “almost a tutelary deity of the French Rococo style, and his great altarpieces were among the works most abundantly copied by the travelling artists of the 18th century during their years of study in Italy” and his great altarpieces were among the works that 18th-century travelling artists most frequently copied during their years of study in Italy. Vasari said, “Many things might be said of the works of this master; but since, among the eminent men of our art, everything that is to be seen by his hand is admired as something divine, I will say no more” as the last word in defence of his art.

Famous Art by Antonio da Correggio

Madonna and Child with Saint Francis (or Madonna of Saint Francis)

1514

Early painting depicts the Virgin Mary, dressed in red and blue, cradling the nude Christ infant on her lap as she sits on a throne in the composition’s centre. There is a huge white cloud immediately behind the Virgin and child, as well as numerous cherubs (baby, wingless angels) forming an arc above her head, behind her, in an architectural background. Two full-bodied cherubs soar over the architectural backdrop from the roof’s apex. Saint Francis of Assisi, whose stigmata may be seen on his hands, stands to the left of the throne, kneeling and gazing up at the Virgin and infant. Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan friar, stands behind him. Saint John the Baptist and Saint Catherine of Alexandria may be seen to the right of the throne.

Martyrdom of Four Saints

1524

Painting of Christian martyrs Saint Placidus (left) and Saint Flavia (right) from the fourth century. Saints Eutychius and Victorinus, sixth-century martyrs, lie in wait behind them (to their left) (who were also siblings). Two powerful Roman soldiers are putting an end to Placidus and Flavia’s lives. An outcropping of rocks seems to frame the stunning setting. In the upper-left corner, a dark-blue evening sky can be observed. A tiny winged angel in the top-right corner wears the palm of martyrdom and a halo.

Deposition (or Lamentation)

1525

This piece depicts the immediate aftermath of Christ’s death on the cross (making Lamentation a more accurate title than Deposition). We observe Christ’s lifeless corpse up front and centre while his cross and a ladder resting against it may be seen behind and to the right. Nicodemus, who removed Christ’s nails from his hands and feet at the crucifixion, is making his way down the ladder with the pincers he used to remove the nails. In the lap of the bereaved Virgin Mary, Christ’s head rests on a throne, which is held in place by the child Saint John. Mary Magdalene occupies the space to the right of Christ’s left thigh.

The Assumption of the Virgin

1526 – 1530

Esperanca Camara, an art historian, recounts how nobles from Parma banded together in 1522 when the pope freed the city from French troops to commission Correggio’s fresco. Camara makes the following observation: “Domes were seen as symbols of heaven in Roman and Byzantine sacred architecture, and Correggio “merged that fascination with three-dimensional illusion with this symbolism, [transforming] the dome from a solid surface into heaven itself.” The dramatic di sotto in su (from below to above) perspective [heightens] the reality of the illusion. Correggio reassured Parma’s people of the tangible truth of everlasting salvation by portraying the Virgin Mary as personifying the Church and the community of believers in the Assumption’s bold foreshortening “‘s a good place to start.

Danaë

1531

When Correggio was older, he shifted his focus from religious to mythical subjects. Ovid, the Roman poet, tells the storey of Dana’s tale in his Metamorphoses, which he illustrates here. Her father (the Argonautic King Acrisius) was told by an Oracle that her son (who was to be his killer) would kill him, and she was his only child. To avoid this, the monarch had his daughter imprisoned in a bronze tower. As it turned out, Jupiter sent golden rain to impregnate Danae, giving birth to Perseus, who fulfilled the prophesy. It’s little surprise that Correggio chose to depict the myth’s most sensuous scene, in which Jupiter glides down near Dani while Eros strips her naked.

Leda and the Swan

1531 – 1532

For his series on Jupiter’s love affairs, Correggio painted Leda and the Swan from the Ovidian tale (also for the Duke of Mantua). Jupiter seduced Leda on the banks of the river Eurota by assuming the shape of a swan, according to legend. A nudist Leda is shown in the middle of Correggio’s depiction of this narrative, with the swan lying over her lap, its body being led between her knees by her left hand, and its long neck winding up between her breasts. This is a recurring theme throughout art history. Other than that, Correggio shows the couple getting ready to meet in the bottom right and a third scene in the top right corner, when the swan leaves as Leda is getting ready with the help of her handmaiden. To keep everything in proportion, Correggio depicts Cupid and two putti playing flutes on the image’s left side.

BULLET POINTED (SUMMARISED)

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• The Parma School’s greatest painter, Antonio da Correggio, lived to be just 40 years old and left a little body of work that has been verified.
• Although Correggio took inspiration from Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Mantegna as a young painter in the High Renaissance, he managed to produce oil paintings and frescos that had a unique trademark style of his own.
• Because of the dramatic effects he achieved via the use of chiaroscuro and other perspective techniques, his religious and mythical storey paintings had a sense of visual drama that predated the rise of Baroque and Rococo styles by a century or two.
• Even conservative patrons of the time praised Correggio’s work as a magnificent colorist because of the delicate delicacy with which he handled the tales of his sensual mythologies.
• Many of Correggio’s early works, such as Madonna and Child with Saint Francis (1514), demonstrated his enormous skill and ability to paint in harmony with other great Northern Italian Masters.
• Giorgio Vasari, a renowned Renaissance art historian, said of Correggio’s use of linear perspective, chiaroscuro, and sfumato that “no craftsman ever painted with greater delicacy or with more relief” than the Italian master.
• Correggio is credited for converting dome interiors into magnificent whirling symphonia-like compositions via works like The Vision of St. John on Patmos (1520-23) and The Assumption of the Virgin (1524-30).
• Di sotto in su foreshortening combined with dramatic lighting techniques gave the spectator the impression of being literally “pulled upward” towards paradise.
• His stunningly dramatic dome frescos served as a major inspiration for many of the greatest Baroque artists of the seventeenth century.
• Oil paintings by Correggio, such as Leda and the Swan (1531-32), have a tangible feeling of seduction and sensuality, especially in his later mythological themes.
• For a man who, according to Vasari, was a melancholic and a devout man, Correggio produced paintings that, in their day, might have been regarded as pornographic if they hadn’t been painted with such delicacy and lightness of touch by the artist that they were elevated to the realm of wonderous beauty.

Information Citations

En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.

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