Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/514

* CORREGGIO. 442 CORREGGIO. he inherited property from his uncle, and was well puid for his work. For his frescoes in the Cathedral of Parma alone he received a thousand gold ducats, besides materials. If he did not seek the courts of princes, where he might have gained high prices, it was because of his financial and moral independence. AUegri's earliest years were passed in his na- tive town. The lords of Correggio at that time maintained a number of artists and scientists at their Court, and it was in this atmosphere that the young artist grew up. It is generally be- lieved that he acquired the rudiments of paint- ing from his uncle, Lorenzo AUegri, an unim- portant local painter. It is also supposed that he was a pupil of Francesco Bianchi- Ferrari at iJodena. but late research has pointed out that this is unlikely, because his earliest work bears no reseml)lance to Bianchi's. Moreover, the lat- ter died in 1510, when Correggio was not over sixteen years old. On the other hand, it is likely that he learned anatomy and optics, in which he excelled, from Giambattista Lombardi, liead of the academy at Correggio. He seems ere this to have attracted the attention of Lady Veronica Gambara, of Correggio, about whom the scientific and artistic culture of the little Court centred. A probalile tradition represents him as having gone with her to ilantua during the plague in 1511. Certain it is that his first works show the influence of Andrea Mantegna. particularly in his taste for nni:hological subjects, his love for illu- sions of perspective, and in the beautiful nude figures of children and genii which abound in his works. It is also likely that he studied under Lorenzo Costa ( q.v. ) . who was at that time head of the school of JIantua, and perhaps under Dosso Bossi ( q.v. ), who was for a time in Mantua. In Correggio's earlier works we also find traces of the influence of Leonardo da Vinci. This influence appears in the handling of light and the modeling of figures, and is par- ticularly evident in two paintings now consid- ered to be early works of Correggio, viz. a "Holy Familj'," in the Malaspina Gallery, Pavia. and a ''Madonna." in the Museo Artistico of Milan, both of which were formerly in possession of Milanese families. But it is not necessary to assume, as Eieci. the chief authority on Correg- gio, does, that he must have therefore studied in Milan. He may have become acquainted with Leonardo's work in some other way. A similar supposition is made by Thode, that because of certain resemblances of Cori'eggio's frescoes in the Convent of Paolo, Parma, with Raphael's in the Farnesiana and elsewhere in Rome, the for- mer must therefore have visited Rome in 1517- ]S. Even granting this resemblance, which is not generally conceded, this conclusion seems unwarranted. An artist of Correggio's merit could not have visited Rome in 1517 without at- trg,eting some attention, and Vasari's relations with the artists in Rome vere such that Vasari could not have been misinformed when he made the statement that Correggio never visited the Eternal City. ^ Correggio united in himself the tendencies of all the Lombard Schools — of Man- tua. Jlilan. Bologna, and Ferrara — but it is un- warranted to infer that he studied in all of them. In 151.3 he returned to Correggio, and in 1514 he signed a contract to paint an altar-piece for the Franciscan church in that town. In 1518 he removed to Parma in response to an invita- tion to decorate with frescoes the chamber of the Abbess of San Paolo. In this city he passed the greater part of his renuiining life and p.aint- ed his greatest works; here also he founded his school. Besides numerous easel works and altar- l^icees, he was engaged from 1520 to 152-1 in jjainting the frescoes of the cupola of San Gio- vanni in Parma, and from 1520 to 1530 he adorned the great cupola of the cathedral. In 1530, probably because he was displeased with the criticisms of this last great masterpiece, he returned to his native town, and there passed the remainder of his life in peace and quietness, under the [latronage of Veronica Gambara, occu- pying himself with mj-thological subjects. He died on ilarch 5, 1534. He was married in 1520 to Girolama Merlini, a maiden of seventeen. She may have been the inspiration of three of his most charming Madonnas, which seem to have been suggested by domestic scenes. She bore him four children, of whom a son and a daughter survived. This son, Pomponio, was a painter, but, unlike his father, a very mediocre one. Girolama died in 1529. Correggio's individuality is so marked, and his mastery of technique was developed at such an early age, that it is impossible to divide his work into distinct periods, as is done in the ease of Raphael. His art, like Michelangelo's, is a steady growth, which was little subject to in- fluence. His earliest works are those executed before 1514, of which, according to the researches of Morelli, there are five in all. A characteristic example is the earliest of them all, a channing "Madonna" in the Uffizi in Florence. She sits enthroned in the clouds, with two angels making music on either side. The general disposition of the picture resembles Mantegna's, but the execu- tion and the delicate transitions from light to shadow, the soft, round figures, and the dreamy, magical tone are characteristics of Correggio. The tW'O paintings mentioned above as showing the influence of Leonardo also belong to this period. In his large altar-piece for the Franciscans of Correggio (1514), now in Dresden, the painter appears before us with a style already developed. The '"Madonna" sits on a high Renaissance throne with two saints on either hand. The most interesting figure of the composition is Saint Francis, whom she is blessing. He seems the incarnation of the happy and gentle spirit that softened and changed the Middle Age. A num- ber of other works of a religious nature lielong in the period of 1514-lS. among which is the charming "Zingarella" of the Naples Gallery. The frescoes in the Convent of San Paolo (1518) form an epoch in Correggio's career, for they were his first monumental efforts, and with them he may be said to have begun the school of Parma. They reveal him as a master of mytho- logical representation, the peer of Raphael him- self. On the principal wall of the Abbess's chamber is the figure of Diana returning from the chase, in a car drawn by white stags. The ceiling is decorated with a trcllis-work of vines, from which jieer sixteen little cupids, bearing attributes of the chase — the most bewitching fig- ures imaginable. Lower on the walls are six- teen lunettes filled with the mythological figures, like The Fates, The Graces, and Satyrs. In the cupola of San Giovanni of Parma Correggio attempted a grander style of composi-