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JLLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES OF 
 THE GREAT ARTISTS. 
 
 ANTONIO ALLEGRI 
 
 DA 
 
 CORREGGIO 
 
ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHIES OF THE 
 GREAT ARTISTS. 
 
 The follmvins; volumes, each illustrated with from 14 to 20 Engravi»,!;s, are nnt- 
 ready, price y. 6d. Those marked ■with an asterisk are 2S. 6 J. 
 
 SIR JOSHtTA REYNOLDS. By F. S. Pulling, M.A. 
 
 WILLIAM HOGARTH. By Austin Dobson. 
 
 GAINSBOROUGH and CONSTABLE. ByG. Brock-Arnold, M.A. 
 
 LAWRENCE AND ROMNEY.* By Lord Ronald Gower, F.S.A. 
 
 TURNER. By Cosmo Monkhouse 
 
 SIR DAVID WILKIE. By J. W. Mollett, B.A. 
 
 SIR EDWIN LANDSEER. By F. G. Stephens. 
 
 GIOTTO. By Harry Quilter, M.A. 
 
 FRA ANGELICO AND BOTTICELLI. By C. M. Phillimore. 
 
 FRA BARTOLOMMEO and ANDREA DEL SARTO. By Leader Scoti: 
 
 MANTEGNA AND FRANCIA. By JuLlA Cartwright. 
 
 GHIBERTI AND DONATELLO.* By Leader Scott. 
 
 LUCA DELLA ROBBIA and CELLINI.* By LeaHEB ^ Scot t. 
 
 LEONARDO DA VINCI. By Dr. J. Paul Richter. 
 
 MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI. By Charles Clement. 
 
 RAPHAEL. By N. D'Anvers. 
 
 TITIAN. By R. F. Heath, M.A. 
 
 TINTORETTO. By W. R. OsLER. 
 
 CORREGGIO.* By M. Compton Heaton. 
 
 VELAZQUEZ. By E. Stowe, M.A. 
 MURILLO.* By Ellen E. Minor. 
 
 ALBRECI-IT DiJRER. By R. F. Heath, M.A. 
 
 THE LITTLE MASTERS OF GERMANY. By W. B. Scott 
 
 HANS HOLBEIN. By Joseph Cundall. 
 
 OVERBECK. By J. Beavington Atkinson. 
 
 REMBRANDT. By J. W. Mollett, B.A. 
 
 RUBENS. By C. W. Kett, M.A. 
 
 VAN DYCK and HALS. By P. R. Head, B.A. 
 
 FIGURE PAINTERS of HOLLAND. By Lord Ronald Gower, F.S.A. 
 
 CLAUDE LORRAIN. By Owen J. Dullea. 
 WATTEAU. By J. W. Mollett, B.A. 
 VERNET AND DELAROCHE. By J. RuuTZ Rees. 
 MEISSONIER.* By J. W. Mollett, B.A. 
 
THE VIEGIN (FKOM THE " COEONATIpN OF THE VIRGIN"). BY COEEEGGIO. 
 
 Fresco in the Library, Parma. 
 
' The whole world without Art would be one great wilderness." 
 
 CORREGGIO 
 
 By M. COMPTON HE AT ON. 
 
 \ I 
 
 Mn 
 
 LONDON 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON 
 
 (Limited) 
 ST. DUNSTAN'S house, fetter lane, fleet street, E.C. 
 
 i8gi 
 
(All Bighis reserved.) 
 
 Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, 
 london and buncay. • 
 

 
 
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 PREFACE. 
 
 In adding a life of Correggio to the series of Biographies of 
 Great Artists, I wish to say a few words as to the way in 
 which my work has been carried out. 
 
 I have felt throughout my inability to write any artistic 
 criticism, and when such criticism has seemed necessary I have 
 generally confined myself to quoting the opinions of more 
 competent authorities. For this, and also for the somewhat 
 meagre details of his life, I have followed as closely as possible 
 in the steps of Dr. Meyer, the well-known German critic. 
 
 My aim has been to gather together the few facts known 
 of this great painter's life, with a brief notice of all his chief 
 works. If, in addition to this, I have succeeded in expressing 
 in any degree the wonderful charm I have myself felt in the 
 paintings of this master, who is emphatically one of the 
 greatest of colourists, and in inducing in the reader a desire 
 to know more of his works, I shall be amply satisfied. 
 
 M. C. H. 
 
 June 1882. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Early Life and Education — Visit to Mantua — Influence of Man- 
 tegna^ of Leonardo and of Prancia— Early works attributed 
 to hinx ... ... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Altar-piece for the Franciscans — Other early masterpieces — 
 " Marriage of St. Catherine '' — Parma in the early sixteenth 
 century — The convent of San Paolo and the Camera of 
 Correggio — Death of his uncle — ^^Lawsuit — Marriage — Birth 
 of his Children —Easel pictures — " La Zingarella " — 
 "Madonna della Ceata" — Other Madonnas — Purchase of a 
 house in Correggio — " Ecoe Homo " — " Christ on the Mount 
 of Olives" . . ... 11 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 Frescoes in San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma — " Ascension of 
 Christ " — " Coronation of the Virgin " — Altar-pieces — 
 "Madonna della Scala" — The Dome of the Cathedral — 
 Hash of frogs — Dispute with the Chapter — Begarelli . 34 
 
 CH4.PTER IV. 
 Large altar-pieces — " Madonlia of St. Sebastian" — "Madonra 
 della ScodeUa " — " II Giomo " — " La Notte " — " M.idouna 
 of St. George"^ The " Reading Magdalen" ... 17 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Death of his Wife — Return to Correggio — Purchase of a house 
 there — Revisit to Parma— Retirement^Portraits — Mytho- 
 logio Works — "Jupiter and Antiope" — "Education of 
 Cupid"— The lost " Magdalen"— "Leaa"—" Danae"— 
 Allegoric Works — Death — His Son Pomponio — Parmigiano 
 — Other fbllowers . . .57 
 
 List of Wo.".ks . .... 77 
 
 List op Illusteaiion s . . . .... 82 
 
 CHEONOIOGY 01' THE LlFE 01' COKEEGGIO 83 
 
 Index 83 
 
CORREGGIO. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION —VISIT TO MANTUA — INFLUENCE 
 OF MANTEGNA, OP LEONARDO AND OF PRANCIA — EARLY 
 WORKS ATTRIBUTED TO HIM. 
 
 A.D. 1494—1514. 
 
 IN" writing a life of Antonio Allegri, -who is 'always 
 known by the name of his birthplace, Correggig, the 
 biographer has to begin by disproving many of the statements 
 that have until now been most generally received respecting 
 him. Very little is known with certainty of the life of this 
 great painter, and, as if to make amends for the paucity of 
 trustworthy information, tradition has been doubly busy with- 
 his name. Dr. Meyer however in his valuable work ' has 
 greatly simplified the labour of succeeding biographers. He 
 gives us a curious chapter on the various accounts that have 
 been given from time to time of Correggio's life ; and by 
 his careful investigations he has at length cleared away the 
 1 "Correggio." Von Julius Meyer. Leipzig, 1871. 
 
 B 
 
COEREGGIO. 
 
 xemains of the mass of falsehood, which had accumulated 
 around the memory of the great master. He has also vindi- 
 cated his character from the heavy charges of melancholy and 
 avarice brought against it, and has shown him to us — not 
 bowed down' by the weight of poverty, oppressed by the cares 
 of his family, aiid dying at last from the effects of extreine 
 parsimony learnt duriag his life-long struggle to obtain the 
 means of living — but in his true position of a respectable, 
 middle-class citizen, provided with all the necessaries, if not 
 with all the luxuries of life and able to make use of the 
 most costly materials for his art and to leave a sufficient 
 maintenance to his children at his early death. 
 
 Not a single account seems to have been written of 
 Correggio by any one who was personally acquainted with 
 him, or who had good opportunities for learning his history 
 from his feUow-citizens and contemporaries. The earlier 
 writers, with Vasari at their head, give us only vague and 
 second-hand reports. They doubtless looked with the more 
 pity on his humble and unpretentious mode of life from what 
 they saw of the splendid position of the great painters at the 
 Pontifical court. Later writers added fresh tragic tones to the 
 picture, untU. we find him, under the pen of Eesta, wandering 
 poor and unknown through the cities of Italy, leaving every- 
 where unappreciated proofs of his genius. In Germany at a 
 later period he became the hero of a tragedy in which he is 
 overwtBlmed by calamity after calamity. In the eighteenth 
 century an ejffort was made to raise him in the social scale by 
 tracing his descent from an ancient and noble house. But 
 this ' attempt has also failed, and Correggio has finally taken 
 the less romantic, but equally honourable rank, of a respect- 
 able citizen of one of the smaller towns in Italy. 
 
 That the family of the great painter was not in indigent cir- 
 
BIRTH. o 
 
 cumstanees we learn from the most trustworthy, though, ala3 ! 
 most uninteresting guide we have to help us through the maze 
 of traditions in which the biographer of Correggio is in danger 
 of being bewildered — the guide being none other than the legal 
 documents and parish registers preserved in his birthplace. 
 
 Pellegrino AUegri, the father of Antonio, belonged to a 
 family of that name long established in the small town of 
 Correggio, about twenty-four miles east of Parma. His wife, 
 who brought him a small dowry of 100 lire, was Eernardina 
 Piazzola, of the Ormani or Aromani family. In 1516, Pelle- 
 grino purchased a clothier's business, and soon afterwards, in 
 conjunction with a certain Vincenzo Mariani, he farmed two 
 estates, for which he paid a yearly rental of 150 gold ducats, 
 worth probably about 225Z. at the present value of money. ° 
 A few years later, on his daughter's marriage with this same 
 Vincenzo, he paid the sum of 100 golden scudi as dowry, and 
 in his will, made in 1538, he bequeathed to the daughter of 
 his son Antonio 250 gold scudi. 
 
 Our friend the parish register fails us at the outset, being 
 unable to tell us the exact day of Antonio ALlegri's birth, as 
 it only dates from 1495, while the great painter was born in 
 the year 1494.. Pellegrino seems to have intended his son 
 to follow one of the learned professions, and with this view 
 had him instructed in the usual elements of education by 
 Giovanni Berni, and in rhetoric and poetry by a professor 
 from Modena named Battista Marastoni, who had settled at 
 Correggio. The father's plans were, however, frustrated: the 
 
 ' There is some difficulty in estimating either the relative value or 
 the equivalent worth at the iiresent time of the Italian coins of the 
 sixteenth century. It varied in different towns. Eoughly speaking a 
 diicat was worth ahout five lire. A scudp was equivalent to a ducat, 
 which was equal to about five English shillings or about thirty shillings 
 of our present money. 
 
 B 2 
 
4- COEREGQIO. 
 
 young Antonio early developed a strong taste for painting, 
 and the father wisely yielded and allowed the boy to follow 
 the bent of his genius. It was not a new profession in the 
 family, for a brother of Pellegrino, named Lorenzo, was a 
 painter, though apparently but a very inferior one. 
 
 In the studio of this uncle, Antonio probably acquired the 
 first principles of art. The science however, which he after- 
 wards applied in a masterly manner, was studied under Giam- 
 battista Lombardi, formerly professor of Philosophy and 
 Medicine in Ferrara and Bologna, but at this time president 
 of a small academy or literary society established by Veronica 
 Gambara, the second wife of Ghiberto of Correggio, in that 
 town. The high opinion entertained of Lombardi in Cor- 
 reggio is shown by the fact that he was appointed one of 
 the regency, when the Count quitted the town in L511, in 
 order to escape the plague. Under this competent master 
 Antonio studied philosophy, mathematics, anatomy, and 
 optics, and it is pleasant to find that master and pupil 
 remained firm friends through life.' 
 
 The question as to who was Antonio's master is much 
 disputed, and we will merely state the various opinions, with- 
 out troubling our readers with the arguments on either side — 
 especially as they are not susceptible of proof. The usual, 
 and apparently most probable' idea is that supported by 
 Bigi, the latest Italian biographer, that he studied under 
 Antonio Bartolotti or ^rtojo^zi, at this time head of the 
 school of art in Correggio. Dr. Meyer however adopts 
 the opinion of Mengs, which is that he was a pupil of 
 
 3 One proof of the good understanding between them is that in 
 1513 Lombardi presented' Antonio Allegri with a geographical codex by 
 .'{p.rlinghieri, with the names of both himself and bis pupil inscribed on 
 one ot the pages. 
 
VISIT TO MANTUA. , 
 
 Francesco Bianchi, called Ferrari — a painter, of the sch.ool 
 of Francia at Modena — who died in 1510. A third view 
 is held by Mr. J. A. Crowe, who thinks that AUegri 
 may have studied in Parma, where his greatest worlcs 
 have been left, and "where Cima, di Conegliano at one time 
 cultivp,ted an art that was subsequently confounded with 
 that of Leonardo, and where many pupils of the Padaan 
 school practised on the Mantuan lines which recur in the 
 earlier efforts of Correggio." However this may be, it was 
 not for long that AUegri remained in any studio, as in the 
 beginning of 1511 — ^his seventeenth year — he was back in 
 Correggio, signing his name in the baptismal records at the 
 baptism of one of the Vizarini family. 
 
 There is strong internal evidence to be found in AUegri's 
 paintings that he was influenced not only by Frgacja in the 
 formation of his manner, but also by Mantegna. Some of 
 the most remarkable characteristics of his"slyle are first seen 
 in Mantegna. The realistic effects of his backgrounds and of 
 the figures flying in space foreshortened from the point 
 of sight of the spectator, are features peculiar to the school of 
 Mantegna and were almost unknown to the great artists of 
 Florence and Rome. 
 
 It was at Mantua that AUegri must have been brought 
 under the influence of Mantegjia. In 1511, his native town was 
 desolated by the plague — that terrible scourge of Italy during 
 the middle ages. Pellegrino AUegri was one of those who 
 succeeded in making his escape with his family, before the 
 stern quarantine laws had made such an escape illegal.* 
 
 * Bigi accepts the assertiou of the earlier Italian biograplier Puii- 
 gileoui, that Antonio went to Mantua in the suite of Manfredi, 
 Count of Correggio, but Dr. Meyer, the severer German critic, considers 
 that Pungileoni fails to prove his case, and that Manfredi knew 
 probably but little of the young student at this time. 
 
b COKREGGIO. 
 
 Mantua, at that time, only five years after the death of 
 Andrea Mautegna, was filled with works of art, by that 
 master and his immediate followers. The Gonzaga family 
 had caused their own palace and the palace of St. Sebastian 
 to be adorned with the finest of Mantegna's paintings. 
 Besides these there were the magnificent collections of 
 sculpture made by former marquises, to which had been 
 added the pictures, cameos and otlier treasures collected by 
 Isabella d'Este. These works of art and especially the paint- 
 ings of Mantegna must have opened a new world to the 
 young student. He was now old enough and sufficiently 
 advanced to be able to obtain the full ■ benefit of Mantegna's 
 teaching. We do not know if he had direct lessons from 
 Francesco, the son of the great master ; but as, even in his 
 earliest known works, there is no trace of direct imitation of 
 Mantegna, and there is much of other influence brought to 
 bear on him at the same time, it seems more reasonable to 
 suppose that he studied independently of any master from 
 the many masterpieces before him. 
 
 This sojourn at Mantua could not have been a very short 
 one. His family probably returned to Correggio after the 
 cessation of the plague, leaving Antonio to pursue his studies 
 alone. It would be deeply interesting to know more of this 
 time at Mantua, but our whole information respecting it is 
 to be found in the great painter's subsequent works. These 
 indeed show clearly the deep effept made on him at this 
 time, and also help us to conjecture what other influences 
 were at work on him simultaneously with that of Mantegna. 
 
 The' Marquis Francesco Gonzaga, a passionate lover of art, 
 had in 1507, invited to his court the Ferrarese painter 
 Liorenzo Costa, a pupil of Francia, and much thought of in 
 Biilogna. Both Dr. Meyer and Mr. Crowe consider that 
 
INFLUENCE OP LEONARDO. 7 
 
 Allegri must have associated much with Costa. The in 
 fluence of Francia would therefore (once more, if he had ever 
 heen subjected to it in Modena,) be brought to bear on 
 the young painter ; and the classic severity of Mantegna's 
 manner, at the very time when it was producing its full 
 effect, would be modified by the grace of the earlier master. 
 
 There is another possibility with regard to this time on 
 which we should much like more information. It is 
 suggested by the question as to where and when Allegri 
 learned so much of Leonardo da Yinci's manner. We know 
 of no time when the two great masters could have met, or of 
 any work by Leonardo that Correggio could have seen; 
 and yet that he did see some of them, even if he did not 
 actually meet their author, admits almost of demonstration. 
 In no other master of the time could Correggio have seen 
 anything of the science of chiarosQuro, with which he after- 
 wards produced such marvellous effects. And yet in his 
 very earliest known works, he shows the power of chiaroscuro 
 and employs it with skilfulness ever increasing, until he at 
 last produces his marvellous Notte, the night scene of the 
 Nativity. Without the aid of Leonardo, it is scarcely possible 
 that even Correggio could so soon have mastered so difficult 
 an art. Dr. Meyer suggests that in some of the short visits 
 that Leonardo was in the habit of paying from Florence to 
 Milan, he may have visited Mantua and Modena.' 
 
 5 It ia after this visit to Mantua that some biographers introduce a 
 visit to Eome. The earlier writers Vasari and Lanzi both state 
 positively that Allegri never was in Rome, and the contrary assertion 
 seems to have arisen in a curious way. In the latter part of the 
 seventeenth century an Italian priest, Father Eesta, made a collection of 
 drawings by unknown artists. To enhance their value he fixed upon 
 Correggio as their author, and then set himself to the difficult task of 
 proving their authenticity, althousrh they were in ilifl'orent styles and 
 
8 COBBEGGIO. 
 
 It is always interesting to trace the separate steps towards 
 perfection of the great masters. Many eflForts have therefore 
 been made to determine the earliest works of Correggio. 
 Pungileoni thinks that some frescoes which he had seen in a 
 palace built by Franoesca of Brandenburg in 1507, had been 
 partly painted by Allegri. Nothing however remains of them 
 now. They are described as possessing some resemblance to his 
 later works, particularly one cupola — probably imitated from 
 Mantegna's frescoes at Mantua — with figures foreshortened 
 from beneath. Tiraboschi gives a tradition current in his time 
 in Correggio, that Allegri's first work was in a palace erected 
 by Count Mccol6 in the fifteenth century, and adorned 
 with frescoes by order of Veronica Gambara. The palace 
 had totally disappeared even in Tiraboschi's time, so here we 
 have even less -to judge by. That he did some work here 
 however is rendered probable by what is said in the 
 manuscript chronicle of Lucio Zuccardi at the beginning of 
 the seventeenth century : " In those days there lived one 
 Antonio Allegri, an excellent artist, who painted the palace 
 outside the town which was the residence of Charles V." 
 
 came from different parts of Italy. He devised a long and pathetic 
 story of the painter's wanderings from town to town, and at last makes 
 him pass the years 1517 to 1520 at Rome, where he leaves sketches, to 
 be afterwards collected by the said Eesta. He succeeded in gaining 
 credence for his tale, but in order to establish it beyond a doubt, he 
 wrote to a priest in Correggio asking him to obtain the signature of ' 
 some of the chief citizens to a document which he enclosed. This 
 document purported to be a statement by an old woman of ninety, that 
 she had heard it asserted by another woman equally old, who in her 
 turn had received it from a third, who had learned from the painter's 
 wife that Antonio AUggri had been to Rome to study painting. The 
 story reminds us of the House that Jack built, and we arc glad to hear 
 that the good burghers of Correggio refused to give their authority to 
 such old wives' fables. 
 
EABLY WORKS. 'J 
 
 This, no doubt, was the palace built by Count Niccol6, 
 which is described as having been in the suburbs. If Allegri 
 did really help to adorn this palace with his work, it must 
 have been between the years 1516 and 1518, after his return 
 from Mantua and before he went to Parma, as his time 
 afterwards is fuUy accounted for. In this case Veronica 
 Gambara must have had the sagacity and honour to recognize 
 the talent of the young painter, before he was generally 
 appreciated. He certainly did not receive commissions from 
 her at a later time, but, after the death of her husband in 
 1518, she may not have been able to do much for him. 
 
 Since the beginning of the seventeenth century, Allegri's 
 lesidence at Mantua has been accepted as a fact. Diligent 
 search has therefore been repeatedly made in the town re- 
 cords and the church history of that town for some mention 
 of the young student. All was in vain however, and con- 
 jecture has fastened on the most probable traces, only to be 
 obliged to give them up again. Among these were several 
 paintings in the vestibule of the church of Sant' Andrea, in 
 the style of Mantegna. These are now pronounced to be 
 by Francesco, the son of Mantegna, A portrait of the 
 Marchese Francesca Gonzaga has also been attributed to him, 
 but it is most unlikely that such a commission would have 
 been given to a mere boy completely unknown to fame. We 
 may safely conclude then that, while in that town, Antonio 
 devoted himself wholly to study, and did not attempt to 
 obtain commissions. 
 
 Very few paintings remaiu which can, with any proba- 
 bility, be attributed to AUegri before he appears as a master. 
 Dr. Meyer enumerates several, but casts grave doubts on the 
 authenticity of all. One, which seems to have been probably 
 one of his earliest pictures, was brought over to England, 
 
10 CORREGGIO. 
 
 ■wliere it has disappeared, and is now only known by copies. 
 This was of the Young Man on the Mount of Olives, who took 
 to flight when our Lord was made prisoner. The copies are 
 pronounced to be in the Correggesque manner, allowing for 
 the youth of the painter. Another painting which is pro- 
 bably genuine is now in the possession of the Duke of 
 Sutherland. It represents two laden mules and a driver 
 passing through beautiful scenery. It is unlike Allegri's 
 usual style, but may have been done as a sign-board for an inn. 
 Tradition says that it was painted to pay his reckoning when 
 his purse was empty. The Portrait of a Doctor, in the 
 Dresden Gallery is also ascribed to him. Almost the only 
 circumstance in favour of the authenticity of this portrait is 
 that it c^me from the collection of the Dukes of Modena : 
 it has few distinctive traits of Correggio's manner. Pungileoni 
 supposes it to be a portrait of his old master and friend 
 Lombardi. Very few other portraits have been ascribed to 
 Correggio, and it is believed that none is genuine. 
 
CHArXEE II. 
 
 ALTAR-PIECE FOB THE FRANCISCANS — OTHER EARLY MASTER- 
 PIECES— " MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE" — PARMA IN 
 
 TBB EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY THE CONVENT OP SAN 
 
 PAOLO AND THE CAMERA OP CORREGGIO — DEATH OF HIS 
 UNCLE — LAWSUIT — MARRIAGE — BIRTH OF HIS CHILDREN 
 — EASEL PICTURES — " LA ZINGARELLA " — " MADONNA 
 DELLA CESTA " — OTHER MADONNAS — PURCHASE OF A 
 HOUSE IN CORREGGIO — " ECCE HOMO '' — "CHRIST. ON THE 
 MOUNT OP OLIVES." 
 
 -](l 
 
 A.D. 1514— L|>21. 
 
 ALLEGEI had. not long to wait before his talent met with 
 recognition in his own town. The earliest of his undis- 
 puted works is a proof of this. A document still in existence, 
 bearing the date July 4th, 1514, states that Quirino Zuccardi 
 bequeathed a house to the convent of the Franciscan 
 Minorites, on condition that they had an altar-piece painted 
 for the adjoining church. It was afterwards arranged that 
 the heir-at-law of Zuccardi should take the house, and pay 
 the Franciscans a sum of money sufficient for the picture. 
 Thus provided with the requisite funds, the brothers 
 
1 2 COEREGGIO. 
 
 naturally looked out for the best painter to be found in the 
 neighbourhood ; and that their choice fell on the young 
 Antonio AUegri, now twenty years of age, shows both their 
 discernment and also the reputation already acquired by 
 the young master. All the documents relating to' this 
 first master-work have been carefully preserved. The agree- 
 ment with the painter was made August 30th, 1514, by 
 which he was to receive 100 ducats, one^ haK to be paid 
 at once, according to the custom of the time, and the other 
 half when the work was completed. As Antonio was a minor, 
 his father's name is also appended to the agreement. The 
 work was however not begun immediately. This is shown 
 by the agreement for the panel, on which it was to be 
 painted, and which was promised for Nov. 4th. In the cdnvent 
 books an entry of April 4th, 1515, records the payment 
 of the secondhalf of the money, showing that the work was 
 then finished. It must then have' taken about six months. 
 
 This altar-piece is the celebrated Madonna of St. Francis 
 of the Dresden Gallery. It is on this picture — executed 
 before Allegri's style was thoroughly formed — that the 
 various theories as to his early masters have been founded.. 
 Dr. Meyer finds in it a resemblance to a painting by Bianchi 
 in the Louvre, which represents a Madonna seated on a 
 pedestal holding the Infant, and with a saint on each side, 
 and where, as in Allegri's St. Francis, there are medallions in 
 (jrisaille on the base of the pedestal. Pungileoni finds in 
 the same picture a resemblance to the altar-piece painted by 
 Bartolotti in 1511, representing the Madonna with SS. 
 Francis and Quirinus, now in the Estense Gallery at Modena. 
 Whatever theories however may be founded on it, all critics 
 agree as to the merits of this first master-work. The 
 Madonna is represented seated on a throne placed on a 
 
< 
 m 
 
 a 
 
 t 
 
MADONNA OP ST. FRANCIS. 13 
 
 raised pedestal and holding the Divine Infant with one hand, 
 ■while the other is exteiided in blessing over the head of St. 
 Francis. The throne is placed under an arch, supported on 
 either side by a column, and through the open archway is 
 seen an undulating landscape. A riug of faint cherubs' 
 heads encircles the Madonna, while below her stand on one 
 side St. Francis with St. Anthony of Padua, and on the 
 other St. John the Baptist and St. Catherine with a sword 
 and palm-branch. The high price paid for this altar-piece 
 shows in what consideration the young artist was held. 
 
 This picture differs much in some respects from AUegri's 
 subsequent works, and in one point the later pictures con- 
 trast disadvantageously with it, as in this we find more 
 religious sentiment than in his later works, though accom- 
 panied by a certain conventionality afterwards entirely 
 discarded by him. 
 
 Another smaller painting belonging to this time is the 
 Eepose in Egypt. Of this work Bigi says that "it forms an 
 epoch in the life of Correggio, because, in the opinion of all 
 connoisseurs, it is the passage between the Mantegnesque 
 and the really Correggesque styles." The original of this 
 work is usually supposed to be the one in the Tribune of 
 the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and in the catalogue of that 
 collection no doubt is expressed as tq its genuineness, but it 
 is certainly doubtful. Dr. Meyer pronounces that the com- 
 position of this painting is undoubtedly by Allegri, but that 
 the colours are too glaring, and the figures somewhat too 
 heavy to allow of its having been painted by him. He there- 
 fore pronounces it to be an old copy. i 
 
 Several other pictures have been attributed to this period, 
 but, as they have disappeared, we will dot enter into the 
 controversies regarding them. Amongst these, however, we 
 
14 CORREGGIO. 
 
 can. hardly place a painting executed in 1517, wliicli re- 
 presents St. Martha in company with St. Peter, St. Mary 
 Magdalen and St. Leonard. No record has been preserved 
 of the fate of this picture, unless, as many suppose, it is 
 identical with the one attributed to Correggio in Lord Ash- 
 burton's collection, and known as St. Peter, St. Mary 
 Magdalen, St. Margaret and St. Anthony of Padua. This 
 seems highly probable, as the latter agrees in all respects 
 with the account that Lanzi gives of the former. Dr. 
 Waagen, in his " Treasures of Art in Groat Britain," pro- 
 nounces it to be probably a work of Correggio's early period, 
 although it dilfers in some respects from his usual style. 
 
 That Allegri's style was at this time rapidly maturing, 
 is shown by an undoubtedly authentic work, belonging 
 probably to 1517, the Mystic Marriage of St. Oatherine, of 
 which there are three replicas or copies. Of these three, 
 that in the Louvre is undoubtedly genuine, and differs in 
 some points from the two others, which however ' are not 
 identical. One is at Naples, the other in the Hermitage 
 at St. Petersburg. Dr. Meyer points out that it would 
 not be surprising if AUegri did in reality repeat this sub- 
 ject several times, as it was one thoroughly in accordance 
 with the special character of his genius, but there are some 
 doubts expressed as to the genuineness of the St. Peters- 
 burg painting : Waagen considers it a pupil's copy of the 
 Naples picture, although there is an inscription on the 
 back (which may however have been added at a later time) 
 statiag it to have been painted by Antonio Lieto da 
 Correggio,^ for Donna Matilda d'Este in 1517. The three 
 
 ' Correggio, following the fashion of his time, often Latinized his 
 name. As allegro means joyous in Italian, he frequently «igus himself 
 by the Latin equivalent laehts, or even by the Italian lieto. 
 
MARRIAGE OP ST. OATHEHIJTB. 15 
 
 pictures ditl'er in some respects, but those of Naples and St. 
 Petersburg are almost identical. There are several stories told 
 of their origin, but, as they are absolutely destitute of proof, 
 the reader may accept them or not as he pleases. , The most 
 
 THB MYSTIC UABBIAGB OF ST. CATHBRIfTK. BY CUBBBGGIO. 
 
 In the Louvre. 
 
 probable seems that in which the St. Catherine is painted as a 
 wedding present for his sister Catherine on her marriage witli 
 Vincenzo Mariani. She appears to have been married in 
 15] 9 and the probable date of the picture is 1518. Another 
 
16 COREEGGIO. 
 
 version of tlie tale represents it to have been given as a 
 mark of gratitude to a lady named Catherine, who had 
 nursed the painter through a severe illness. 
 
 Of another work supposed to have been painted in the 
 same year, 1518, not a trace now remains; it was an altar- 
 piece, representing the Birth of the Virgin, given to the parish 
 church of Alhinea by Giudotto di Eincopo. 
 
 The time between 1513 and 151 8 appears to have been passed 
 by Allegri in Correggio and its immediate neighbourhood. 
 These years must certainly have been devoted to hard work, 
 for his progress in his art is marvellous, although little 
 remains to show the steps by which he advanced. In the 
 early part of 1518 however he went to Parma. This 
 seems to have been the first time that he remained for ■ any 
 length of time in that city where he was destined to leave 
 such memorable works. He now went by invitation to 
 execute a commission for the Abbess of the Convent of San 
 Paolo. 
 
 Before entering on the subject of Allegri's works in Parma, 
 perhaps it will be as well to make a short digression to 
 show in what circumstances the city then was./ . 
 
 The old Etruscan town of Parma was at this period a 
 prize eagerly coveted by each of the great Powers who in 
 turn ravaged the fertile plains and rich cities of poor Italy. 
 Her rich meadows, fat cattle and the silk for which she is 
 still noted caused her to be looked upon as a veiry desirable 
 possession by the Pope, the King of France, and the Emperor 
 of Germany. Ever since the fall 'of the Western Empire, 
 Parma had been under the dominion of an endless succession 
 of foreign masters. During the wars with the Empire she 
 generally sided with the Popes, and the Emperor Frederick 
 II. was defeated under her walls by a coalition of Italian 
 
PARMA. 17 
 
 towns in which Parma took a prominent part. The city- 
 was taken hy the French during the invasion of Louis XII., 
 but was recovered by Pope Julius II. and added to the 
 dominions of the Papal See in 1512. Leo X., who suc- 
 ceeded to the Pontificate in 1513, bent upon the aggran- 
 dizement of his own family, was trying to arrange a kingdom 
 for his brother Giuliano in the north of Italy, the nucleus 
 of which was to be Parma, Piacenza, Eeggio, and Modena. 
 After the defeat of his allies, the Swiss, however, at 
 Marignano in 1515, Leo was forced to give up Parma and. 
 Piacenza to Francis I. ; and Parma enjoyed a few years of 
 troubled rest under the foreign yoke before the French were 
 finally expelled from the Milanese and adjoining towns by 
 the coalition of Leo X. with Charles V. in the year 1521. 
 It was therefore during the French occupation of Parma 
 that Allegri first settled there, and, as we shall presently see, 
 his labours there were at one time much hindered by the 
 disordered state of the country. 
 
 Parma, notwithstanding its many changes of rulers, would 
 seem to be comparatively little altered from what it was 
 in the sixteenth century. It would even seem that the 
 railway-station outside the Porta Santa Barnaba had niade 
 but little diflference to the quiet, rather sleepy town, as 
 the great stream of passengers and tourists passes on to 
 Bologna, without caring to stop to examine the many 
 treasures concealed beneath the cupolas of the Cathedral and 
 Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, and in. the Ducal 
 Palace. 
 
 The streets, piazzas, principal churches, rambling and 
 somewhat dilapidated old Palace, and venerable Cathedral and 
 Baptistery (one of the finest in Italy) look much the same 
 DOW, as when the young artist approached the city by the 
 
18 COERBGGld. 
 
 straight, dusty road from Eeggio and passed under the Porta 
 San Michele and along the wide street which divides the 
 town into two parts. The bridge then, as now, spanned the 
 shallow river Parma (a small tributary of the Po), with its 
 many sand-banks only hidden in a time of flood when the 
 yellow, turbid^waters rush rapidly by, almost filling the low 
 arches and threatening to carry the bridge away bodily with 
 it. The convent of San Paolo, where AUegri was to begin 
 his labours in Parma, is in the Via Santa Lucia, a quiet 
 side-street near the Piazza, where stand grouped together 
 the Cathedral, Baptistery and Church of San Giovanni. 
 
 When Allegri came to Parma there was no master of any 
 celebrity in the town. No. doubt the constant change of 
 government and the foreign rulers, whom it then served, 
 made Parma an undesirable abode for artists. Only residents 
 in the town, or those who had been long settled there, would 
 be seen within its walls. Accordingly we find that in 1518, 
 the greatest masters — Cristoforo Caselli, a pupil of Giovanni 
 Bellini, and Lodovico da Parma, a painter of the school of 
 Francia — were past their prime, whilst Alessandro Araldi, 
 also an old man, having been born about 1465, and. one whose 
 decorative works adorn another room of the same convent, was 
 only great in decoration, as his otitlines are too hard for figures. 
 The Mazzola family, Michele, Pierilario and Pilippo (the 
 last the father of Parmigiano) were also in Parma, but the 
 elder generation never attained to any great distinction, and 
 the younger members of the family adopted the manner of 
 the new master. 
 
 The nuns of San Paolo enjoyed a strange kind of celebrity 
 at this time. Since the days of Frederick II. they had 
 possessed special privileges, and among others that of being 
 independent of their bishop. The fact of the abbess thus 
 
CONVENT OP SAN PAOLO. 19 
 
 possessing almost unlimited power made the position much 
 sought for by ladies belonging to noble families, and dire was 
 the jealousy among not merely the rival candidates, biit also 
 among their friends and relations. So notorious had become 
 the disorders in the convent that both Julius II. and Leo X. 
 placed it under ecclesiastical restraint, thinking thus to put 
 ah end to the .scandal ; but the sisters, with the abbess at 
 their head, quietly refused obedience to their ecclesiastical 
 superiors and matters went on as before. In 1507, Giovanna, 
 daughter of the patrician Marco Piacenza, was elected. Thi? 
 lady fully kept up the reputation already possessed by the 
 sisterhood by her love of luxury and determination to have 
 her own way in everything. Her first measure did not 
 certainly show any signs of a conciliatory policy. This was 
 to remove the custody of the convent estates from a Garim- 
 berti, whose family had long held that office, and to give it 
 to a relation of her own. The Garimberti family, naturally 
 loath to relinquish so profitable a charge, seems to have 
 resisted the decree of the new abbess, and one of them was 
 murdered by the new inspector aided by the brother of the 
 abbess. 
 
 Such was the lady who now called in to her assistance the 
 rising master from Correggio. She had been for some time 
 past engaged in building new apartments for her private use, 
 and did not feel at all inclined to restrict herself to the 
 religious subjects ordained by custom as befitting a convent. 
 The fashion of the day turned to mythology, and from 
 mythology she drew the subjects for the decoration of her 
 rooms. She obtained the help of the best artists within her 
 reach. For an architect she chose Giorgio da Erbe ; for a 
 scujptor Francesco da Grate, and for a painter Alessandro 
 Araldi With . the last, however, the Abbess does not 
 
 c 2 
 
20 COHUEGGIO. 
 
 appear to have been satisfied, as for the last room she took 
 the work from him and entrusted it, as we have seen, to 
 Allegri. 
 
 This comniissioii must have been doubly gratifying to 
 'Correggio on account of the honour and emolument to be 
 acquired from it, and also of the subject being strictly in ac- 
 cordance with' his own tastes. His genius was so essentially 
 original that it was very difficult for him to be bound by 
 the strict rules of conventionality in any subject. We have 
 seen his marvellous power, while a very young man, of 
 learning the secrets of other masters' success and making 
 them his own without the least tendency to servile 
 copying. In conventional religious pictures it was most 
 difficult to be entirely original. He therefore boldly thre>vf 
 aside all conventionality and in the s,acred subjects, which 
 coiistant demand obliged him to undertake, he almost 
 wholly confined his attention to attaining the greatest 
 ,physical beauty possible, while rendering spiritual signifi- 
 cance a secondary object. 
 
 The reaction, shared by most of the great painters of the 
 time from the earlier style where spiritual significance was of 
 primary importance, was due no doubt in a great degree to the 
 general awakening and revolt against the load of superstition 
 with which the Christian world was laden in the beginning of 
 the sixteenth centuryl In Germany and England it produced 
 the Reformation ; in Italy, where many would-be Eeformers 
 were unheeded or sternly repressed, there came in, with the 
 new freedom of thoiight, a flood of incredulity and licence 
 and, in some instances, almost a return to Paganism — in 
 words at all events. ICorreggio seems deeply to have felt 
 this influence of the time. He paints religious subjects, but 
 they are treated in an increasingly secular manner, and he 
 
CAMERA DI SAN PAOLO. 
 
 21 
 
 appears glad to escape from what lie felt to be the- trammels 
 of sacred art into the realms of mythology. 
 
 In the dining-room of the lady-abbess, Correggio is com- 
 
 '* PUTTI." BT COBBEGOIO. 
 
 ^om thefretcoei in the Convent of San JPaolOf Parmai 
 
 pletely in his own element. Dr. Meyer says of him : 
 " Correggio was innocently and unconsciously a bom 
 
22 J COREEGGIO. 
 
 heathen " and he revels amongst the gods and goddesses of 
 classic story ■which the lady had chosen for this room. 
 
 It was a square vaulted room imperfectly lighted by two 
 small casement windows on either side of the large high fire- 
 place. Over this fireplace, Allegri placed the exquisite 
 picture which was to give the key-note to the whole room — 
 Diana returning from the Chase. The goddess is repre- 
 sented in the act of mounting her car while it is moving at 
 full speed drawn by two white does, whose hind legs alone 
 are visible. The wind catches her mantle, and her knees are 
 still bent in the act of springing lightly to h6r place, while her 
 face is turned to the spectator. 
 
 The vaulted ceiling is in sixteen compartments separated 
 by gilded flutings which are united in the centre by a key- 
 stone or rose, showing the arms and initials of the Abbess 
 surrounded by a wreath. The sixteen divisions between the 
 raised flutings are somewhat hollowed out, and are each filled 
 with trellis work, on which vines are trained, and from which 
 hang clusters of grapes. In each division is an opening and 
 through these the blue sky is visible, forming a background 
 to a group of children — two, sometimes three, charming little 
 putti romping in the most unconstrained attitudes. They 
 appear to have stolen some of the goddess's hunting imple- 
 ments, and are thoroughly enjoying a game with her horns, 
 bows and dogs. Beneath these are semicircular lunettes with 
 one or more figures taken from mythology and bearing but 
 little on the general subject of the room. These are all in 
 grey. A frieze is formed by a border of loose cloths attached 
 to consoles below each lunette, and bearing dishes and goblets. 
 This would seem to indicate that the apartment was to be 
 used as a dining-room. 
 
 All the paintings in the room are in remarkably good 
 
FATE OF THE CONVENT. 23 
 
 pTeservation — a fact no doubt partly owing to its having 
 been long shut up. 
 
 At the death of Giovanna in 1574 the Convent was placed 
 under ecclesiastical authority. It was cloistered up, and for 
 more than two hundred years it was 'almost impossible for 
 any one to penetrate into the rooms where such treasures lay 
 concealed. Vague rumours were current that there were 
 paintings of great value in the Convent, and the Carracci 
 tried hard to obtain admittance, but in vain. Mengs how- 
 ever saw them and gives a description of the paintings in this 
 room in a letter to a friend. Tiraboschi was unsuccessful in 
 obtaining a sight of the pictures and owes the full description 
 of them, which he gives, to a friend — a painter named Antonio 
 Bresciani, who, when engaged in some work in the Convent 
 Chapel, found an opportunity of inspecting the concealed 
 treasures. Tiraboschi's account of them excited the attention 
 of those who were interested in art, and in 1794 the Academy 
 of Parma obtained the long desired permission to examine 
 the paintings. A deputation, consisting of all the professors of 
 the Academy, accompanied by the engraver Eosaspina, ac- 
 cordingly entered the Convent and inspected the paintings. 
 They were unanimous in pronouncing them to be the work of 
 Correggio. A long description of the paintings with a- full 
 account of the discovery was afterwards written by Affb.^ 
 
 The fame of the young painter was now firmly established 
 in Parma, as well as in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 Correggio. Commissions came in more quickly, and there was 
 no fear of want of work. His fortunes too seemed improving 
 
 2 Since the suppression of the Convent, the Camera di San Paolo, as 
 it is called, has been thrown open, and the visitors have now only to ask 
 for the key of the Academy to obtain free admission to tlie once 
 jeiilonsly-guarded treasures. 
 
24 COEEEGGIO. 
 
 in other ways. In February 1519 his maternal uncle 
 Francesco Ormani bequeathed all his property, including a 
 house in the Borgo Vecchio of Correggio and several acres of 
 land in the same district, to " his excellent nephew Antonio 
 AUegri as a reward for his merits and for the pecuniary assis- 
 tance he had afforded in the necessities of his uncle, as well 
 as being a proof of the esteem in which the donor held his 
 mind and heart." 
 
 The uncle died May 4th of the same year, but the artist 
 did not peacefully enter into his heritage. The wUl was dis- 
 puted by a member of the Ormani family, who had expected 
 to benefit by it, and on December 10th, 1521, it was agreed to 
 refer the question to two umpires. The umpires however did 
 not aid matters, as one decided in favour of each claimant, and 
 no choice was left but an appeal to the law. The lawsuit 
 dragged on until 1528, and was then only terminated by orde]' 
 of Manfredo, Lord of Correggio, who decreed a division of the 
 property. Eomanello, who had begun the suit was now dead, 
 but his sister received as her share the house and fields in the 
 Borgo Vecchio, and Antonio AUegri an estate belonging to 
 the district of Correggio. Antonio afterwards purchased the 
 land, and very possibly the house also, as in 1550, long after 
 his death, his son sold a house in the Borgo Vecchio. 
 
 In the course of this year 1519, AUegri must have paid 
 frequent visits home. His uncle's deed of gift in February ^ 
 bears his signature, as well as two documents in September. 
 His sister's marriage too, prol)ably took place during this 
 year and was quickly followed by his own. He was how- 
 ever occupied with commissions in Parma between these 
 visits, but it is not surprising, considering the numerous 
 interruptions he must have had, that there are not many 
 paintinijs of that time lelt. 
 
UARBIAGE. 25 
 
 The young girl -whom he married, was Girolama Francesca, 
 daughter of Bartolommeo Merlini di Braghetis, (armbearer to 
 the Marchese of Mantua,) who had fallen in the battle of Taro 
 in 1503. The bride was only sixteen, and we are very 
 possibly familiar with her face and form in some one of the 
 many lovely Madonn9,s and saints that Correggio painted at 
 this time. But although a later tradition points to oue of 
 these, of which we shall speak presently, as her portrait yet 
 it is — as usual with regard to all that interests us in Correggio 
 — the merest guess-work. 
 
 Girolama brought him in dowry the not inconsiderable 
 sum for those days, of the value of 263 ducats in land, and 
 the half of a house valued at 60 ducats. It was not until 
 July 21st, 1521, however, that business affairs connected with 
 this dowry were settled, and in the meantime Girolama had 
 monetary transactions with an uncle Giovanni Merlini, who 
 would appear to have been trustee. Some time elapsed 
 before Antonio derived any benefit from her fortune, as the 
 property was not divided until January 1523, and then a 
 part of Girolama's share was claimed by some relations, and a 
 fresh lawsuit was needed to establish' her right. 
 
 After his marriage, Allegri was obliged to return to Parma 
 to execute some commissions, leaving his wife in Correggio, 
 where she was detained by the business with her uncle. 
 Her first child Poniponio was born at Correggio on September 
 3rd, 1521, and his father's old friend Lombardi stood god- 
 father to him. The second child, a daughter, Francesca 
 Litizia, was probably born after the wife had gone to 
 live with her husband, in Parma, as we find that one of 
 her godfathers was Giovanni Garbazzi, physician to tlie 
 convent of Sail Giovanni. This daughter was after- 
 wards married to a certain Pompeo Brunorio, The third 
 
26 COREEGGIO. 
 
 child, a son, who died young, was bom at Parma in 1526 ; 
 and the fourth, Anna Geria, was also born at Parma in 1527. 
 
 Whether it be true or not that Allegri, as so many artists 
 did, took his wife and children for models, we may feel quite 
 sure that he loved children, for no one could have depicted 
 the grace of childhood as he has done, without feeling 
 affection towards them. He thoiight, with aU lovers of 
 children, that their mirth jars less on the feelings in sad or 
 solemn scenes than that of older persons, and he never 
 hesitates to introduce their gambols even in the most solemn 
 of his sacred pictures. 
 
 Most of the genuine easel pictures by Correggio belong 
 to the years 1519-21 : they are chiefly small paiatings 
 representing the Madonna with the Infant Jesus and St. 
 John the Baptist. For these, Allegri probably found a rapid 
 sale, and the subject was forced on him by the demand. That 
 he did not himself prefer the conventional type of religious 
 painting, is clearly shown by the greater originality and 
 freshness thrown into his works, when he has greater liberty 
 in the subject. These Madonnas have much similarity in 
 composition, and they were probably painted as rapidly as 
 was consistent with the most careful finish, and with his other 
 engagements. A traveller writing in 1587 says that he saw 
 in many towns of Lombardy works by Correggio, carefully 
 treasured. This would show that orders came to him from a 
 distance and that his name was becoming known beyond 
 Parma, though probably few commissions came from wealthy 
 connoisseurs in art. 
 
 Tv'O large Madonnas have been ascribed to this time, but 
 it seems doubtful if either of them was reaUy by Correggio. 
 One of these, a Madonna with the four Patron Saints of 
 Parma, bought by Duke Melzi of Milan, Dr. Meyer pro- 
 
"MADONNA ADORING THE INFANT JESUS." 27 
 
 novmces to be more than doubtful. The other was one that 
 Mengs mentions as having seen in the Pitti Palace in 
 Florence, a Madonna holding the Inf^int in her arms and St. 
 Christopher standing by about to take Him on his shoulder. 
 Mengs thought that the composition -was in Correggio's 
 style but not the execution. The Noli me tangere of the 
 Madrid collection is generally thought to be authentic, but 
 even this is not quite beyond suspicion. It represents the 
 meeting between our Lord and St. Mary Magdalen after 
 the Eesurrection. The scene is placed in a richly wooded 
 country, and the two figures are radiant w^ith health and 
 beauty. The figure of our Lord, however, has given rise to 
 some dotibts, as it is scarcely equal to Correggio's usual 
 work, but this would not be enough to discredit the authen- 
 ticity of the picture if its history could be clearly traced. 
 This unfortunately is not the case, as it has passed through 
 many hands. One of its possessors was shocked with the 
 scanty clothing of the Magdalen, and covered her up with a 
 thick coating of paint. This has been since removed, but it 
 doubtless adds to the difficulty of deciding the real author- 
 ship. 
 
 The Madonna adoring the Infant Jesus, the well-known 
 picture in the Tribune of the Uffizi at Florence, is the 
 only indisputable work by our master in that city so 
 rich in masterpieces of most of the Italian painters. It 
 is not in his latest style, and must have been executed 
 before the grand frescoes in San Giovanni. Mengs con- 
 siders the painting of the face and hands of the Madonna to 
 be weaker than in mosb of AUegri's works, but it is difficult 
 to criticize it severely in Florence, where there are no other 
 works by the same hand with which to compare it. It is 
 certainly a charming little picture, though not by any means 
 
28 COBREGGIO. 
 
 the one that -would have been chosen to represent Allegri in 
 that cabinet of masterpieces. In this picture Mary is kneel- 
 ing on a low step in front of the Child, for whom she has 
 formed a little bed with some straw, laid on one end of her 
 own long veil, the rest of which is passed over her head and 
 round her body. Her hands are about to be clasped in 
 adoration. The background of this tranquil scene is filled 
 with a beautiful landscape. 
 
 Another of the Madonna pictures of this time is one in 
 the Naples Gallery, known by the name of La Zingarella - 
 or the Gipsy — from the turban-like head-dress and Eastern 
 costume of the Madonna. It is sometimes called also the 
 Madonna del Goniglio, from a little white rabbit, which is 
 sitting up watching the group. If the last-named Madonna 
 can be accused of being too pale in its colouring, that cannot 
 be said here, as the colouring of the Zingarella is most bril- 
 liant, and the flesh tints are deeper than usual, in accordance 
 with the Eastern character of the picture. The Virgin is 
 sitting linder a palm-tree in a lovely landscape, holding the 
 sleeping Child on her lap. She is bending over him, soothed 
 almost into slumber by the tranquil beauty of the scene, 
 while an angel — one of a group that is hovering above them 
 — shades her from the sun with a palm branch. It is this 
 lovely young Madonna that tradition points out as a portrait , 
 of the paiuter'is wife, and we are at liberty to believe it, 
 if we like, as history, though it does not confirm, yet does 
 not contradict tradition in this case. But Pomponio her 
 eldest son was not born until 1521 and the picture appears 
 to have been painted in 1520, so, though Allegri may have 
 taken his wife for a model, he could not have painted his son 
 as the divine Infant. 
 
 To English readers, the Madonna della Cesta in our 
 
" MADONNA DELLA CESTA." 29 
 
 own National Gallery, is well known and needs tut little 
 description. It probably belongs to the same year 1520, 
 and is a most happy and beautiful picture of family life, 
 although there is but little attempt at religious feeling in 
 it. Joseph is represented in the background engaged in 
 carpentering, while Mary is dressing the Infant. Beside 
 her is the basket filled with working materials, which gives 
 its name to the picture. The Madonna undressing the Infant 
 Cldld whicli is in the collection of the Marchess Cesare 
 Campari at Modena, may have been intended as a companion 
 picture to this, though there are doubts as to its authenticity. 
 There seems no particular reason for the general practice of 
 attributing to this time the Madonna and Child, with St. 
 John the Baptist offering fruit, of which there are several 
 replicas, all apparently by the master himself. One of these 
 is in the Collection of Prince Torlonia at Rome ; another in 
 the Gallery at Buda-Pesth. To the latter ig added a 
 little angel with outstretched wings who offers pears and 
 cherries to the Infant- the picture has suffered a good 
 deal from time and from restorations, but it is said that the 
 painting of the hair alone would be enough to mark it as the 
 work of Allegri. Much stress was laid upon the painting of 
 hair at this time, and the contemporaries of Correggio greatly 
 admired his work in this respect. Vasari says : " Among 
 other peculiarities, Correggio had that of painting the hair 
 with great facility, and has shown to later artists the true 
 method, whereby the difficulties of accomplishing this point 
 may be overcome." The third replica of this Madonna is 
 in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg : it is painted on a 
 panel and is narrower and higher than the others. It 
 is in very good preservation and there is no doubt as to its 
 genuineness. 
 
30 COEKBGGIO. 
 
 Many more Madonnas bear the name of Correggio and are 
 •attributed to tbis time, in the various collections scattered 
 over Europe, but few can bear the strict tests to which' his 
 pictures are now subjected. The origin of most of these was 
 the great and often ignorant demand" for " Correggios " in the 
 eighteenth century. The public insisted on having genuine 
 Correggios, and" as they were willing to pay for them, they 
 found dealers only too glad to supply as many as they wished 
 — although, unfortunately, no old ones were in the market. 
 A curious illustration of this wilful blindness on the part of 
 purchasers of pictures, is shown in the history of the painting 
 from which Morghen engraved his Charity, 
 
 In 1786 Christoph Unterberger, a painter at Rome, sold 
 the original picture of this CJiarity to a dealer, as the work 
 of his brother. The dealer however preferred to consider it 
 a Correggio, and persuaded others into that belief. It was 
 engraved by Morghen from a drawing made by Alexander 
 Day, an English miniature painter, then resident in Rome. 
 In 1795 Prince Esterhazy saw it and agreed to pay for 
 it the sum of 1200 ducats, if it proved to be genuine. The 
 question was referred to Ignaz Unterberger, who showed 
 beyond doubt that it was his own work. Even' this did not 
 convince every one, and the picture was at length bought by 
 Lord Bristol for 36,000 lire, a sum equal to about 1400/. of 
 our money. 
 
 The year 1521 was a very unsettled one for AUegri, 
 although he had probably akeady begun his great works in 
 San Giovanni. We find that he purchased a horse and must 
 have passed much of his 'time in Correggio, as his signature is 
 attached to the settlement of his wife's dowry on July 26th, 
 1321. It was in August of this year that the French were 
 driven out of Parma. For a short time the town was 
 
"ecce homo." 31 
 
 besieged, and Allegri probably remained during tbat time 
 in his native town, with his young wife, whose first child was 
 born in September. Business-matters also detained him in 
 Parma at this time, as a document proves that he at that time 
 engaged a new advocate in the lawsuit by which he sought 
 to recover the property left him by his uncle. In November 
 he was still in — or possibly had returned to Correggio, as 
 his name appears among the witnesses to a legal document. 
 
 Although the great works, of which we shall speak in the 
 next chapter, must have been brought to a standstill during 
 this long absence from Parma, yet some of the easel pictures, 
 of which we have already spoken, would doubtless occupy 
 much of his time. There are also two other paintings of a 
 somewhat different character, which seem also to belong to 
 this time. One of these is the Ecce Homo, of the Ifational 
 Gallery. This picture has had a rather singular destiny. 
 Some art-critics are now of opinion that it is only a copy, 
 made by Lodovico Carracci, that we are so carefully guarding 
 among our national treasures, and that, in the admiration 
 excited by this copy, the original has been lost sight of, and 
 has actually disappeared ! It is some consolation to think that 
 if it be a copy, it is a copy by a master and was for many 
 years thought to be genuine. It was bought as such by the 
 Marquis of Londonderry of Caroline Bonaparte, the widow of 
 Murat, King of Naples, who had acquired it from Sir Simon 
 Parke, who had bought it. Waagen in his " Treasures of 
 Art in Great Britain," attributes the insipid colouring of 
 some parts to restoration and cleaning. M. Viardot the 
 French critic seems to have been about the first to doubt its 
 genuineness, and others have now come round 'to his opinion. 
 It is, however, certain that there was a genuine picture, from 
 which this was copied, as the engraving of Agostino Carracci 
 
j:j coeheggio, 
 
 was taken from the original when in the possession of Count 
 Prati in Parma in 1587. 
 
 Correggio has succeeded in this small picture in hringing 
 the whole scene hefore us with great vividness, but without 
 crowding, and with no unnecessary figures. There are five 
 half-length figures on the canvas. Our Lord stands in the 
 middle, His hands bound and the crown of thorns on His 
 head. This is the weakest part of the composition, as the 
 expression of resignation ou His features approaches some- 
 what to feebleness, and, as has been said, the colouring has 
 suffered either in copying or in restorations. Suffering 
 humanity is here represented, but there is nothing to indicate 
 the divine power concealed beneath the suffering body. Behind 
 Him at a window and facing the spectators is Pilate, apparently 
 saying the words : " Behold the man ! " On the other side the 
 head of a soldier is just visible, his rough countenance 
 expressive of the deepest pity and gazing reproachfully at 
 Pilate. Immediately undef the window of Pilate, the Virgin 
 is supported by St. Mary Magdalen, as she falls back in a dead 
 faint. Her countenance, although at the moment of most 
 utter prostration is wonderfully beautiful and is perhaps the 
 one which gives the deepest touch of pathos to the scene. 
 The other picture of the same kind as this, is the Qlirist on 
 the Mount of Olives, now at Apsley House. This is a small 
 picture, which owes much of its wonderful charm to the effect 
 of the light. As it represents the moment after the Agony 
 in the Garden, it is necessarily a night-scene. A single ray 
 of light falls on the figure of Christ as He kneels in prayer : 
 the agony is over, for the angel has descended to comfort 
 Him, and is pointing with one hand to the cross and with the 
 other to heaven. The light, gently reflected from the white 
 robe of the suffering Master, falls on the sleeping disciples in 
 
'CHRIST ON THE MOUNT OP OLIVES." 33 
 
 the middle distance. As Waagen observes, however, the eye 
 does not hecome aware of their presence until it turns from 
 the principal group. In the extreme background the soldiers 
 are dimly visible approaching with torches. The first faint 
 streak of dawn is' in the horizon behind them. Every -detail 
 in the picture is painted with the utmost minuteness, almost 
 as if it were a miniature. 
 
 An old tradition asserts, that this work was painted to 
 pay a debt of four scudi to an apothecary. The great labour 
 bestowed on it came from love of the work, and from con- 
 scientiousness rather than from greed. This painting was for 
 some time in the possession of tlie King of Spain, although 
 it has not been clearly traced how it came to him. After the 
 battle of Vittoria it was discovered in the rumble of Joseph 
 Bonaparte's carriage, and was sent back to Ferdinand by the 
 Duke of Wellington. The king however presented it to 
 the Duke and it now forms one of the chief treasures of 
 Apsley House. There is a replica or good copy of it in the 
 National Gallery. 
 
CHAPTEK III. 
 
 FRESCOES IN SAN GIOVANNI EVANQBLISTA, PAHMA — " ASCENSION 
 OP CHRIST " — " CORONATION OP THE VIRGIN " ALTAR- 
 PIECES — " MADONNA DELLA SCALA " — THE DOME OF THE 
 
 CATHEDRAL HASH OP FROGS DISPUTE WITH~ THE 
 
 CHAPTER — BEGARELLI. 
 
 A.D. 1522—1530. 
 
 THE frescoes which Allegri had' painted in the Convent of 
 San Paolo must have been greatly talked of and ad- 
 mired in Parma. They had probably been begun, as we have 
 seen, in the year 1518, and finished in 1519. The Benedictine 
 monks of the Convent of San Giovanni were, no doubt, 
 decided by the success of his works for the Abbess, to entrust 
 him with the more important commission of painting the 
 cupola of their own church. They appear however to have 
 tested the power of the rising artist to depict religious 
 subjects, before finally deciding on, what was to them, a 
 matter of vital importance. Pungileoni mentions a fresco, 
 painted by Allegri in the passages of the dormitory, 
 representing St Benedict in a flood of glory, surrounded by' 
 angels. No trace of it now remains. 
 
 The contract by which Antonio undertook the commission 
 
s 
 
 1^ 
 
 I 
 
CHURCH OP SAN GIOVANNI. 35 
 
 was signed on July 6th, 1520. Thirty ducats were at once 
 advanced, according to the custom of the time, and on 
 January 23rd, 1524, the last instalment was paid. In all, he 
 received for the works — including the painting of the dome 
 and the friezework round the building with gold and other 
 decorations — the sum of 272 ducats. The work was most 
 likely hegun soon after the agreement was made, but it must 
 have met with long and frequent interruptions, both from 
 the war, and from his own visits to his family during 1521, 
 and it was not until he brought his wife and little one to 
 live in Parma, that the works would make much progress. 
 This appears to have taken place early in 1522. Until that 
 time Antonio had board and lodging given him in the 
 monastery, which may have been intended as part payment. 
 When he was joined by his wife he is said to have lived 
 near the monastery in the Pescara quarters of the town. 
 
 Allegri treated the dome in what was then a novel manner, 
 though it has since been so frequently used that it has 
 become familiar to us. Until his time the frescoes in domes 
 had generally been divided into panels or compartments, but 
 Allegri filled the whole dome with one unbroken scene. By 
 his peculiar method of foreshortening from the point of sight 
 of the spectator, he seems to do away altogether with the 
 dome, and to give us in its place the blue vault of heaven, 
 filled with figures floating npwards into a sea of light, in the 
 very positions in which they would actually appear to those 
 beneath them. Unfortunately this fresco in San Giovanni 
 is in a very bad state of preservation, as until the Carracci 
 came to Parma in 1 580 to study the works of Correggio, and 
 by their intense admiration showed the Parmese in what 
 estimation the work of the great painter was held by others, 
 these magnificent frescoes were but little valued, and suffered 
 
 D 2 
 
36 OORKEGGIO. 
 
 much by damp and neglect. When the painting was still 
 fresh, however, in Correggio's most vivid, realistic manner 
 the effect must have seemed almost supernatural. • 
 
 The subject chosen was the Ascension of our Lord. It is 
 here represented as a vision seen by St. John in his old age 
 (the paintings being in the church of St. John the Evangelist). 
 He is beneath, gazing upwards at the heavenly pageant. 
 The central figure, that of our Lord, is being borne upwards 
 by clouds into the dazzling light above. Below Him, in the 
 wider part of the dome, come the Apostles, resting on clouds 
 and watching the ascent. They are placed in groups of two, 
 and below them again come the Evangelists, each with a 
 father of the Church, distinguished from the Apostles by 
 wearing long garments. St. Matthew is accompanied by 
 St. Jerome, St. Mark by St. Gregory, St. Luke by St. 
 Ambrose and St. John by St. Augustine. A frieze, which 
 is divided by four windows, encircles the dome, and that ' 
 part which is beneath each evangelist contains his em- 
 blems intermingled with putti and flowers. These putti, 
 or boy angels play an important part in the fres- 
 coes. They are frolicking in wildest gambols over the 
 whole space. Their heads fringe the clouds on which the 
 Lord is ascending ; they fill up the spaces between the 
 apostles, play with their emblems and ride on the clouds. 
 These putti could not fail to interfere with the solemnity of 
 the scene. But solemnity Correggio seems scarcely to have 
 
 1 It is snd to find that, owing to tliis neglect and to the constant 
 burning of incense heneath the cupola, the frescoes have been so mucli 
 blackened ns to be ahnost invisible, unless perhaps on a very bright 
 day. I was unfortunate in the weather during my short stay at Parma 
 and had to come away at last without even a glimpse of the highest 
 part of the frescoes in the cupola, and was obliged to content myself 
 with studying the copies and engravings in the Academy, 
 
" CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN." 37 
 
 aimed at. The attitude arid countenance of tlie ascending 
 Saviour Himself are too full of movement and vivacity to 
 possess anything of the dignity and awe required by the sub- 
 ject ; and in the effort to make the apostles unlike the con- 
 ventional type in religious paintings, Correggio has gone to the 
 opposite extreme, and has represented them as almost desti- 
 tute of clothing and reposing on the clouds in the most free 
 and unconstrained attitudes. The figures of the Evangelists 
 and the Fathers between the windows are much nobler 
 and more dignified. One cannot help regretting the total 
 absence of the conventionality of earlier times, which 
 necessitated greater solemnity in the composition and reli- 
 gious feeling in the expression. One of the chief beauties 
 in this wonderful fresco is said to have been in the manage- 
 ment of the light, which permeated or softened every 
 shadow, and wrapped the figures in a wonderful glory of its 
 own. 
 
 The paintings in the tribune of the church, which repre- 
 sented the Coronation of the Virgin, have unhappily been 
 destroyed. The increasing congregation of the church de- 
 manded a larger building, and in the latter part of the 
 sixteenth century, the frescoes were copied by Annibale and 
 Agostino Carracci and repainted by Cesare Aretusi, Pisano 
 and Paganino, in the ceiling of the new chancel, which replaced 
 the old tribune. An attempt was made to remove the paint- 
 ings themselves, but this was only successful with a small 
 portion, which, however, took in the principal figures of the 
 Madonna and of her Divine Son, who is placing a crown of 
 stars on her head {see frontispiece). This fragment is now 
 carefully preserved in the library in Parma, The face of the 
 Virgin is one of the most lovely of the many beautiful faces 
 painted by Correggio. Her eyes are cast down and her 
 
38 COEEBGGIO. 
 
 hands pressed on her bosom as though overcome by emdtion. 
 The countenance of Christ is also very beautiful although 
 somewhat wanting in power. The putti cannot certainly 
 be said to be overcome by emotion ; they are if any- 
 thing even more audacious than those in the dome, as 
 they carry on their games even among the robes of the prin- 
 cipal figures. 
 
 Correggio also painted in fresco for the same church in a 
 semicircular lunette over the door leading into the convent, 
 a figure of St. John, sitting writing on a scroll which rests on 
 a large book on his knee. His head is thrown back, and he 
 is looking up to heaven for inspiration. A large eagle stands 
 at his feet pluming its feathers. The colouring of this 
 fresco has sufi'ered from time and neglect, although the forms 
 are clear and it is easily reproduced by photograph. Eesta 
 tolls us that the monks also ordered an altar-piece for the 
 church, but as he pretended to have the cartoon for this in 
 his possession and this cartoon is, like the other works in 
 his collection universally considered to be spurious, no belief 
 can be attached to his statement. Two altar-pieces were 
 however executed by AUegri for a chapel, which had been 
 built by the Benedictine Don Placido del Bono, father con- 
 fessor to Paul III. Neither of the subjects of these would 
 probably have been chosen by Allegri himself, as they are 
 little in accordance with his taste, but he executed them 
 conscientiously — one, a Pieta, almost too conscientiously, for 
 although he succeeds admirably in depicting the calm of the 
 dead Christ, and also the physical prostration of Mary, yet 
 in his effort to represent the unrestrained grief of the other 
 women present, he shows their countenances actually dis- 
 torted by weeping. To depict violent grief was uncongenial 
 to him ; and he accomplishes such a task either by choosing 
 
" SS. PLACIDHS AND PLAVIA." 39 
 
 the moment when the overtaxed strength gave way, or by 
 the simple, unidealized representation of weeping. 
 
 The second altar-piece represents the Martyrdom of SS. 
 Plaeidics and Flavia, of whom, legend says, the former 
 was a disciple of St. Benedict and founded a monastery on 
 the Benedictine model at Messina. He was quickly followed 
 by his sister Flavia and two, younger brothers, but they did 
 not long enjoy the seclusion they sought. One day, soon 
 after their arrival, a pirate crew landed, who put the Chris- 
 tians to death. AUegri has represented this tragic scene in 
 the most graceful and least horrible manner possible. The 
 two brothers are ^eady dead, and Placidus and his sister 
 have each received one wound, and are calmly awaiting 
 the second stroke. The scene is enacting in the midst 
 of the most lovely landscape, and the figures of the 
 martyrs and of their executioners stand out with great effect 
 from the light blue background. Both these pictures are 
 now in the Academy at Parma. 
 
 The high esteem in which the great master was at this 
 time held by the inhabitants of Parma is shown by several 
 circumstances. In 1522, when his paintings in San Giovanni 
 were probably sufficiently advanced to be shown to the 
 public, the chapter of the cathedral entrusted to him the 
 painting of the dome. This was a far more important com- 
 mission than the last, and it was no doubt only after long 
 deliberation, and from thorough conviction that AUegri was 
 the best artist they could obtain, that they gave him the 
 work. This fresco was not begun until 1526, when those in 
 San Giovanni were finished, but Dr. Meyer thinks that it 
 was probably the fact, that this new commission secured him 
 remunerative work for some time to come, that decided the 
 painter to bring his wife and little son to Parma. 
 
40 CORBEGGIO. 
 
 It was however while still engaged in the paintings for 
 the Benedictines, that he received and executed a commission 
 by the town for a fresco of the Madonna, intended to he the 
 guardian of the town, and to serve as a welcome to strangers 
 arriving in it. This Madonna known by the name of the 
 Madonna della Svila, appears to have been painted over the 
 Eastern gate of the town, called the Porta Romana. It was 
 evidently a high honour to entrust this fresco to a young 
 man, still a comparative stranger in the town, and it shows 
 how rapidly he was becoming known. The wall was after- 
 wards taken down, hut that part on which the fresco was 
 painted, was built into- the walls of a small church. To put 
 the picture in its right position the church had to be some- 
 what raised, and the steps that led to it gave the picture the 
 name of della Scala, or of the staircase. In 1812, when the 
 church was taken down, the fresco was removed with the 
 greatest care to the Academy. It has necessarily suffered 
 much from its exposure to the weather, and also from its 
 repeated removals and restorations, but it is still extremely 
 beautiful, and may easily be recognized as the work of AUegri. 
 It loses something in its present position from its having been 
 placed too low down on the wall of the Academy, as the fore- 
 shortening shows that it was intended to be looked at from 
 beneath. 
 
 Nothing is known of the origin of another fresco belonging 
 to this time. It was painted in a niche in the Church of 
 the Annunziata, and was afterwards removed, when that 
 church was taken down, to a vestibule of the new Church of 
 the Annunziata. It is in a very bad state of preservation, 
 but the subject is still clearly visible, and some traces remain 
 of the great beauty that Tiraboschi speaks of. It represents 
 the Annunciation ; it has now been removed from the church 
 
THE CATHEDRAL. 41 
 
 and lias been placed in the Academy. While the aiigej_ 
 delivers his message, Mary kneels before him her face half 
 turned away. The frolicsome boy-angels which Correggio 
 so dearly loved to introduce are here playing with the wings 
 of the archangel ! 
 
 It was during the autumn of 1522, and while the works in 
 San Giovanni were still in progress, that the negotiations were 
 carried on between the Chapter of the Cathedral and Allegri, 
 for the painting of the choir and dome of tlie Cathedral. He 
 now asked much higher terms than he had done for the 
 neighbouring church of San Giovanni. He demanded 1200 
 ducats, which were to include the gold leaf and other 
 materials for decorations. To this the Chapter made some 
 demur, and the sum was finally settled at 1000 ducats for 
 the painting and 100 extra for the materials. Allegri was 
 not able to begin so great an undertaking until his other 
 work was finished, but there was more work to be done in 
 the Cathedral, and the Chapter proceeded at once to engage 
 the best artists they could find to undertake it. These were 
 Francesco Mazzuoli, commonly called Parmigiano, Francesco 
 Maria Eondani, and Michelangelo Anselmi. A month later 
 they also secured the aid of Alessandro Araldi, whom we have 
 seen as the chief decorative painter in Parma before the arrival 
 of Allegri. The younger painters ranged themselves under 
 Araldi, but they were increasingly influenced by the rising 
 master now occupied on his great works at San Giovanni. 
 AUegri cannot be said to have founded a school or to have 
 left disciples behind him to perpetuate his style, but his 
 manner had a profound effect on the young painters brought 
 under his influence, especially on Parmigiano ; and the whole 
 art of the latter part of the sixteenth and of the seventeenth 
 and eighteenth centuries was deeply influenced by him. 
 
42 CORBEGGIO. 
 
 The records of the payments made to AUegri show us 
 when the work hegan, what progress was made in it, and 
 when it stopped. The first instalment of 189 ducats was paid 
 early in the year 1526, when the work was commenced, and the 
 remainder of the first quarter on September 29th of the same 
 year. The next payment was made on November 17th, 1530, 
 of 275 ducats, the second quarter of the whole amount. At 
 a later time disagreement between the Chapter and the 
 painter prevented the work being completed ; and after 
 Allegri's death a claim was made by the clergy on his heirs 
 for the sum of 140 lire, to indemnify them for the painting 
 having been left in an unfinished state. It is not known if 
 this claim was paid. 
 
 This, the second dome that AUegri painted, he treated 
 in a somewhat different way to the first. The figures in the 
 cupola of San Giovanni were few, but of large size and 
 distinct from each other ; here, in the representation of the 
 Assumption of the Virgin, with which the dome of the 
 Cathedral is filled, there are hundreds of figures — many too 
 small to be distinctly seen, and producing their effect mainly 
 by the play of light and shade on the different groups. The 
 central figure is that of the angel Gabriel, who is descending 
 from a sea of light to meet the Virgin. She ascends to 
 the glory above, borne on clouds supported by angels. 
 Countless numbers of the angelic host surround her, and 
 very beautiful many of these groups are and also very varied, 
 for the master never repeats himself in this wonderful work. 
 In the wider part of the dome there is a sort of balustrade 
 running round, and on this stand the apostles, generally 
 two together. Their gestures and fittitudes show the liveliest 
 interest in what is going on above them, but as usual 
 Correggio has somewhat overdone the movement, and they 
 
"assumption op the virgin.'' 43 
 
 are consequently wanting in the dignity and calm that would 
 befit the scene. Behind them are young angels busily 
 engaged in their several duties — some pouring out perfumes, 
 others holding candelabra or swinging incense. Below these 
 in the divisions between the windows come the patron saints of 
 Parma — SS. John the Baptist, Thomas, Hilary and Bernard 
 — slowly ascending on clouds borne by angels. The effect 
 produced on the spectator by the countless forms floating 
 upward in the dome of the Parma Cathedral is well ex- 
 pressed by Sir Charles Eastlake in his " Materials for the 
 History of Oil Painting." " In Correggio's system figures 
 are generally placed at some angle with the plane of the 
 picture, and are seldom quite parallel with it. The conse- 
 quence is that his masses of light are often composed of 
 many objects. This has been called a broken assemblage of 
 shai)es and, if reduced to outline, it would sometimes un- 
 doubtedly appear so, the objects being (to use an exaggerated 
 expression for the sake of clearness) placed endwise towards 
 the spectator, but, when connected by a magic harmony of 
 light and shade, the result, far from being scattered is a 
 ' plenitude of effect ' seldom to be found in other painters 
 and more satisfactory than when that mass is cheaply obtained 
 by broad, flat surfaces." 
 
 The perfection, which AUegri has obtained iu his effort to 
 make the scene real to beholders, has naturally the fault that . 
 would apply equally to nature under such conditions. A 
 number of figures ascending would not be seen to most 
 advantage from beneath, and this the master with all his 
 art could not remedy. It is not very surprising that the 
 general feeling both of the public and of the Chapter of the 
 Cathedral was at first of discontent. To appreciate the 
 masterly way in which the difficulties of such a vast under- , 
 
44 COHEEGGIO. 
 
 taking were overcome, tlie infinite variety of posture, the 
 skilful effects produced by the light and shadow on masses 
 when the individual forms were scarcely seen, required more 
 artistic training and perception than were possessed by the 
 good people of Parma. The saying, which tradition records as 
 having been uttergd by a mason's boy, that the new paintings in 
 the dome resembled a hash of frogs, no doubt obtained celebrity 
 through its having given expression to the unuttered thought 
 of many others. The greatest propriety of deportment an.d 
 costume had so long been considered absolutely requisite in a 
 religious picture, that the Pannese may well be pardoned for 
 undervaluing the merits of the great fresco, when they saw all 
 conventionality and even decorum set aside in it. Their first 
 impression on gazing upwards was of the prominence given to 
 the lower limbs of the hosts above, and to those who under- 
 stood nothing of foreshortening, it would appear as if there was 
 almost as little to be seen in many of the forms above them 
 as in their favourite dish of frogs, at which only the hind 
 legs were served ! It would demand real knowledge of art, as 
 we have said, to appreciate the work, and tradition teUs us 
 that it required the opinion of a very strong artistic authority 
 to enable them to put up with it. It is said that when 
 Titian passed through Parma in the suite of Charles V. in 
 1530, the canons of the church had made up their minds to 
 have it all effaced, and they only changed their intention in 
 deference to the strongly pronounced opinion of the great 
 Venetian master. He expressed his admiration in no 
 measured terms : "■ If you had filled it with gold you V'ould 
 not have paid what it was worth." After such an opinion 
 the canons were of course bound to admire and preserve their 
 famous fresco, but it did not apparently put them on better 
 terms with its painter. 
 
BEGAHELLI. 45 
 
 This anecdote belongs only to tradition, but there is no 
 doubt as to the fact, that, for half a century after Allegri's 
 death, full justice was not done to his reputation in Parma, 
 and also that some misunderstanding arose between him and, 
 the Chapter during the course of his works in the Cathedral. 
 For in the year 1530, after receiving the second half of the 
 money, when the paintings in the dome were almost finished 
 and those in the choir not yet begun, Allegri voluntarily 
 gave up the remainder of the work. It must therefore have 
 become very distasteful to him for some cause or other, as he 
 was not one easily to relinquish what he had once taken in 
 hand. This work moreover, was one -on which he had 
 already, expended a great deal of thought and labour. He 
 was always, as we have already seen, most careful in minutely 
 finishing his paintings, whatever might be the price he 
 expected to receive for them, and here the labour was double, 
 from the exceptional positions in which the figures were 
 placed. Living models could not be expected to put them- 
 selves into the attitudes he required, and to obtain the fore- 
 shortening and effects of light and shadow, he made use of 
 small figures made in claj. Scannelli, an Italian who lived 
 in the seventeenth century, says, apparently without any 
 foundation, that these were made for him by a friend. 
 Vedriani, who wrote short biographies of the worthies of 
 Modena, asserts that this friend was Antonio Begareili, the 
 sculptor of Modena. There is no proof of this assertion, how- 
 ever, or even of a friendship existing between the two, but the 
 similarity in style between Allegri and Begareili renders it 
 very possible that they may have rendered services to each 
 other ; though, as Dr. Meyer points out in this case, Begareili 
 could only have worked under Allegri's guidance, as the 
 figures in which he is said to have helped bear unmistakable 
 
46 
 
 OOEEEGGIO. 
 
 evidence of their having originated with the painter himself. 
 The same writer asserts that Allegri understood the plastic art, 
 and modelled in clay three of the figures in the Descent ffom 
 the Gross, hj Begarelli, now in the church of San Domenico 
 in Modena. No mention is, however, made of Allegri in 
 connexion with" this work, by Lanzilotto, a contemporary 
 chronicler. 
 
CIIAPTEE IV. 
 
 II 
 
 ») 
 
 LARGE ALTAB-PIBOES — " MADONNA OP ST. SEBASTIAN " 
 
 " MADONNA DSLLA SCODELLA " " IL GIORNO " — " I,A 
 
 NOTIl! " — "madonna op ST. GEORGE " — THE "READING 
 MAGDALEN." 
 
 A.D. 1522—1530. 
 
 DTJKING his residence in Parma, Allegri found time for 
 other works besides his great frescoes in San Giovanni 
 and the Cathedral. He had now attained to his full powers, 
 and each of the pictures belonging to this time is a masterpiece. 
 They are unfortunately few in number, but what remain are 
 indisputable. They consist for the most part of large .altar- 
 pieces, and wherever they are found they are most highly 
 ■valued. Dresden possesses, besides the earlier work of the 
 Madonna of St. Francis, no less than three of these religious 
 pictures, the product of the mature genius of the great 
 painter. Parma has succeeded in retaining two of them, 
 although she was iu great danger at one time of losing them, 
 as they were both carried off to Prance during the Prench 
 occupation of Italy. 
 
 To some of these altar-pieces, no date but an approximate 
 one can be assigned, depending on the internal evidence 
 
48 COEEBGGIO. 
 
 afforded by tlie degree of perfection attained ; but tbe date of 
 others is determined by documents still in existence. Of the 
 latter class, the first executed was probably the large altar- 
 piece known as the Madonna of St. Sebastian, -which is now 
 in the Dresden Gallery. This was ordered in 1525, by an 
 archery company in Modena called the Brotherhood of St. 
 Sebastian. The commission is said to have been given soon 
 after the disappearance of the plague, which had been raging 
 in that town, and in order to fulfil a vow made by the 
 Brotherhood to their patron saint. It was presented as an 
 altar-piece to the chapel of St. Geminianus, in the Cathedral 
 at Modena. It represents a glorified Madonna : the Virgin 
 is seated- on clouds with the Infant in her arms ; the light 
 falls full on the two figures, forming a glory; or halo round 
 their heads, which is softened down to the surrounding , 
 ligures. Above them' floats a semicircle of cherubs' heads. 
 The figure of St. Sebastian, bound and wounded yet gazing 
 up with loving reverence at the heavenly figures above him, is 
 one of the most b'eatitifal that Allegri has ever produced. 
 On the other side is St. Eoch in a pilgrim'^ dress- asleep, or, 
 as M. Viardot thinks, dying of the plague caught from the 
 sufferers he had tended- at Placentia ; and in the centre is- 
 St. Geminianus in the robes of a bishop, one hand pointing 
 upwards to the Infant Saviour, the other downwards to the 
 people below, as if in the act *f calling their attention to the 
 Saviour, or of interceding for them. In the corner belo-<7 
 St. Sebastian, is a graceful young girl holding the model of 
 a church. As usual putfi are introduced playing in the 
 clouds below the Madonna. One of these who is sitting 
 astride on a billowy mass has caused the name of " The Eiding 
 School " to be sometimes given to the picture. 
 
 Correggio has allowed himself greater licence with his 
 
■ MADONNA DELLA SCODBLLA. 
 
 49 
 
 favouritej3i(//4 in this work than ia any other of his altar- 
 pieces, and although nothing can be more charming than the 
 children themselves, yet it must be confessed they seem 
 somewhat out of place here. Sir Charles Eastlake says of 
 
 UADONXi. nELLA. SCODHLLA.. BT COaEBQGIO. 
 
 Ill the Parma G-allery. 
 
 this painting: "The most extraordinary instance of the 
 trivial and childish treatment of a sacred subject *as regards 
 invention and composition is p'erhaps the St. SebasUan at 
 
 E 
 
50 - COEREGGIO. 
 
 Dresden, in which, the actions of some of the infa-nt angels 
 and of the other figures border, and intentionally so, on the 
 ridiculous.'' 
 
 The next of these pictures in chronological order is pro- 
 bably the Madonna della Scodella at Parma, so named from 
 a bowl which the Virgin is holding in her hand ; it is painted 
 on wood. It was intended for the church of the San Se- 
 polcro in Parma, and was paid for by subscription. There 
 may have been gome difficulty in making up the amoupt, as 
 the artist consented to receive part payment in " different 
 kinds of things." This picture was ordered in 152C, 
 and was iinished — according to a , document found in the 
 archives of the church — in 1528; so that the date ^n the 
 frame, which is given as 1530, must be intended for 
 the year in which it was placed over the altar. This 
 painting has sometimes been called the San Giuseppe, from 
 St. Joseph being the most prominent person in it. It 
 represents the rest during the flight into Egypt, spoken of 
 in the apocryphal gospel of De Infcmtia Salvatoris, in which 
 a palm-tree is stated to have bowed itself down to Joseph's 
 hand^ when refreshment was needed for the Holy Child. 
 Mary is here seated under the shade of the palm-tree, with 
 the Child resting against her. He is older than He is usually 
 represented at this time, being apparently about three years 
 of age, and is eagerly receiving the dates which Joseph is 
 picking for him. The means by which the tree bends is no 
 mystery, as a number of little angels are puUing it down 
 with all their might — both they and the artist equally pleased 
 at their having some legitimate occupation in the picture.' 
 
 ' It is int^'esting to compare with this work by Corroggio, two wood- 
 cuts of the same subject, the Eepose iu Egypt, by Luciis Cranaeh, in 
 which little boy-angcls gambol about the Siicrcd group iu a most uu- 
 
" IL GIORNO '' 51 
 
 Although this painting has suffered somewhat from the 
 ravages of time, the colours are still wonderfully brilliant, 
 and it well deserves the place of honour it holds in the 
 Academy of Parma. 
 
 The second large altar-piece, that now serves as a com- 
 panion piece to this in the Academy — the Madonna of 
 St. Jerome, or II Giorno — has been secured by Parma, 
 although, like the last-mentioned Madonna della Scodella, 
 it paid a visit to Paris at the time of the French occu- 
 pation of Italy, in company with many other master- 
 pieces. After the Treaty of Paris, the French government 
 was very anxious to retain it, and is said to have offered a 
 million francs for it, but the Parmese were at that time fully 
 alive to the merits of the great painter, and refused to give it 
 up on any terms. Toschi, the celebrated engraver, exerted 
 himself much to obtain its restitution, and was rewarded for 
 his e.iforts by seeing it restored to its place in 1816.' 
 
 The commission for this work was given in 1523, by 
 Donna Briseide Colla, but several years elapsed before it was 
 finished. Allegri took a long time over most of the private 
 commissions received during this time, no doubt in conse- 
 quence of his time being so much occupied with his larger 
 works, and it was not until the year 1528, that this painting 
 was placed in the church of Sant' Antonio Abbate at Parma. 
 There is no certain evidence to show that it was finished 
 much before that time. A record, said to have existed 
 
 constrained manner, climbing trees, lopping off branches, plucking fruit, 
 and shooting birds : in one, they join hands and form a ring and dance 
 round the Holy Family. 
 
 2 The old Custode of the Academy informs the visitors with much 
 pride that this painting was placed first in the catalogue of that great 
 Exhibition at Paris during the first Empire, when all the masterpieces 
 of Europe were collected in the Louvre. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 'COREEGGIC. 
 
 formerly among the Convent archives, though it is not now 
 to be lound, stated that the sum agreed on for this picture 
 vvas 400 lire imperiali. Tlie lady, however, was so much 
 pleased with the work when finished, that she added to the 
 payment a substantial present, consisting of two cartloads of 
 faggots, a few bushels of wheat, and a pig. Such a present 
 was much more in accordance with the customs of that time 
 than with those of ours, and it probably, gave rise to no 
 surprise when the painter made such a choice for the ofl'ered 
 present. 
 
 The sum received by the author of this noble work, even 
 with the addition made by the conscience or generosity of 
 the Donna, seerus to us ludicrously disproportionate to its 
 merits. For this is universally recognized as one of his 
 finest masterpieces, and the execution is as near perfect 
 as possible. The name II Giomo {Day) has been applied 
 partly to contrast it with another work that was probably 
 in progress at the same time, and also because of its 
 being essentially a . picture of daylight. The Virgin is 
 here represented seated under. a sort of bower formed by red 
 drapery stretched across from one side to the other and 
 hanging in loose folds behind St. Jerome. The back is open 
 showing a lovely landscape, with trees, hills, and the portico 
 of a temple. The young mother is seated in the centre of 
 the picture with her foot resting on a rock ; her eyes are cast 
 down, and she is smiling at the Child's eagerness. There is 
 nothing divine in the countenance of the Infant; he is simply 
 one of the merry, lovable children that Correggio much 
 ioved to depict. One hand he is reaching out to an open 
 book held before'!, him by St. Jerome, and to which a young 
 boy-angpl is pointing, while the other hand nestles lovingly 
 among the luxuriant hair of the Magdalen. ' This Magdalen 
 
"la notte.'' 53 
 
 is one of the most perfect of the master's creations. 
 Eegarded simply as a beautiful, graceful woman it is 
 indeed perfect, and has called forth the warmest encomiums. 
 Euskin says that the colour Correggio has used for the hair 
 is the only one with which certain light, golden clouds could 
 be painted ; but on the other hand, in another place he 
 criticizes severely the whole figure, when he speaks of her 
 as the lascivious Magdalen of the II Oiorno. This is strong 
 language to apply to such a figure in which, tliough there is 
 perhaps nothing to indicate the Christian saint, there appears, 
 to us at least, no trace of past or present impurity in the 
 exquisite beauty of the saint. On the other side stands St. 
 Jerome, who, from being the most prominent of the saints in 
 it, has given his name to the picture. This figure has 
 aroused as enthusiastic admiration as the Magdalen, but 
 Dr. Meyer considers it to be the weakest in the entire 
 picture, from the peculiar attitude in which the saint is 
 depicted. 
 
 As we have already seen, the work which naturally 
 challenges comparison with the St. Jerome, was in the studio 
 of the artist at the same time with it. It is, perhaps, the 
 best known of all Correggio's works to English readers, from 
 the numerous engravings and photographs by which it has 
 been reproduced. We speak of the celebrated Notte (or Night) 
 in the Dresden Gallery. This picture was ordered in 1522, 
 when the works in San Giovanni were still in progress, but 
 it was notfinislied until 1530. The written agreement dated 
 October 10th, 1522, is still in existence, in whicli Alberto 
 Pratonero of Keggio engages to pay the sum of 208 lire, 
 according to the old Eeggio standard, to Antonio da Correggio 
 for a work representing the Birth of Christ and a few other 
 figures — adding the unnecessary proviso considering who the 
 artist was "that the whole was to be done excellently well." 
 
54 CORREGGIO. 
 
 Tlie exact value of this sum has not been ascertained, but it 
 was evidently a low one even for AUegri at this time, though 
 he was probably not rich enough to be able to despise small 
 commissions. He was no doubt allowed to take his own 
 time over it, in consideration of the small payment, and it 
 was not finished until 1530, By this delay Pratonero was 
 the gainer, as he received the picture at last, finished in the 
 best style of the master's best time. 
 
 All who have been fortunate enough to see the original of 
 this picture seem unable to speak highly enough of its won- 
 derful beauty. Many give it the first place in all Correggio's 
 works, and its extreme beauty certainly seems to explain, if 
 not to justify the intense longing of the lords of Modena to 
 possess it. It was placed in 1530, in the church of San Pros- 
 pero, and during the second half of the sixteenth century the 
 Dukes of Modena tried to obtain possession of it, but in vain. 
 In the end their love of art proved stronger than their honesty, 
 and the picture was carried off one night by order of Duke 
 Francesco I. A copy was afterwards presented to the church, 
 but this would prove but poor amends for such a loss. 
 The splendid collection of the Dukes of Modena was bought 
 by Augustus III., King of .Saxony, in the year 1Y46, for the 
 comparatively small sum of 120,000 thalers (18,000Z.). He 
 carried off his newly-acquired treasures without opposition, 
 as the other States in Europe cared too little about art, and 
 were too busj' with their own affairs to dispute the prize 
 with him. Augustus when emptying his exchequer in the 
 purchase of pictures showed but little regard for the welfare 
 of Ms kingdom, as he was at the very time engaged in a dis- 
 pute with Frederick the Great ! However the dangers of 
 that time have long passed away, while the pictures remain 
 and form one of the finest Galleries in Europe, so perhaps 
 Augustus III. may be forgiven by posterity. 
 

 
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" MADONNA OF ST. GBORGE." , 55 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to give any description of this 
 painting. The Child lies in the Manger encircled by his 
 Mother's arms, diffusing around Him that soft phosphorescent 
 light, which forms so distinguishing a feature in the com- 
 position, while Mary bends over Him, the light thus falling . 
 more equally on her face. The Child and the Mother in her 
 blue drapery are therefore the first objects on which the eye 
 fills — hut a little farther off and at one side of the picture 
 stand the group of shepherds who have come in to see the 
 confirmation of the " glad tidings " preached by the angel. 
 Their roughness and toil-worn countenances, full of interest 
 and surprise at the miracle, form a striking contrast to 
 the calm delicacy and repose of the Mother and Child. 
 Above them is a group of angels, invisible now to the 
 shepherds, but as eager as they themselves in their joy 
 and as unconstrained in their attitudes. They seem in the 
 very act of flying down to witness the mystery of the 
 Incarnation. The light reveals to us in the background 
 Joseph leading away the ass. In the horizon the first streaks 
 of dawn are just appearing. 
 
 Another of the large altar-pieces in the Dresden Gallery 
 is that known by the name of the Madonna of St. George. 
 This was ordered for the Brotherhood of San Pietro Martire 
 in Modena, but in what year the commission was given, or 
 when it was executed, is not known. It remained in the 
 church, for which it was painted, until 1649. It has been 
 stated on the authority of some early records that the 
 Oratory of the Brotherhood was painted in 1531-32, and 
 in that case the -grand altar-piece may have been placed, 
 in its position at that time. The picture was evidently 
 intended to be raised considerably above the spectator, as the 
 stroD" foreshortening of the Madonna's position in the panel 
 
56 CORREGGIO. 
 
 looks strange when the eye is on a level with it in the gallery. 
 The Madonna is seated on a high throne, with the Child 
 on her knees, and helow her stand four saints interceding for 
 the people — St. John the Baptist, a youthful, delicately- 
 painted figure, St. Peter Martyr, the patron saint of the 
 Brotherhood, St. Geaninianus, near whom an angel holds a 
 . model of a church he had built in Padua, and St. George, with 
 the dragon at his feet. The arms of the warrior-saint are 
 home by four little putti, one of .whom is trying on the helmet. 
 This picture has been said to represent the family of the 
 painter, but this is quite disproved by the children here being 
 all boys. 
 
 The last of the treasures of Correggio's work in Dresden is 
 a small picture not more than a foot square in size, but as well 
 known to us as the Notte or Oiomo : it is the celebrated 
 Heading Magdalen. The history of this picture is not 
 known. It is probably the same work as, one stated to have 
 been in the possession of Count 1^100016 de Gaddi at Florence 
 in 1600. It must, in this case, have been acquired by the 
 Dukes of Modena soon afferwards, as it had apparently been 
 long in their possession before it passed into Saxony. This 
 exquisite little picture is painted on copper, on which, it 
 is said, Allegri laid a wash of gold to enhance the bril- 
 liancy of the colouring. The Magdalen, wrapped in blue 
 drapery which contrasts admirably with the delicate flesh- 
 tints of her arms, neck, and feet, is lying on the grass, her 
 right arm supporting her head to enable her to read in a 
 book spread before, her on the grass, while the golden hair 
 which Allegri excelled in painting falls around her in rich 
 tresses. The date of this picture is not known, but, by its 
 exquisite finish, it evidently belongs to the later years of the 
 master's life. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 DEATH OF HIS WIFE — RETURN TO CORREGtGIO — PURCHASE OP 
 A HOUSE THERE — REVISIT TO PARMA — RETIREMENT — POR- 
 TRAITS — MTTHOLOGIC WORKS " JUPITER AND AKTIOPB " 
 
 "education OP CUPID " — THE LOST " MAGDALEN " — 
 
 " LEDA " " DANAE '' — ALLEGORIC WORKS— DEATH — HIS 
 
 SON POMPONIO — PARMIGIANO — OTHER FOLLOWERS. 
 
 A.D. 1530 — 1534. 
 
 WE have now to turn once moie to the artist's private life. 
 We have seen that he probably brought his wife and 
 young son to Parma as soon as her affairs allowed of her 
 leaving Correggio, and his own engagements in Parma seemed 
 to involve a residence of some time in that city. It was here 
 that his four younger children were bom, and here also, in 
 all probability, that his wife died. The date of her death 
 can only be surmised, Her signature is attached to docu- 
 ments in 1528, when she and her husband- were living in 
 Parma, and as there is no mention of her death in the 
 registers of Correggio, she must in all probability have died 
 at Parma some time between 1528 and 1530— when her 
 husband returned to his native town with his little children. 
 The grief and depression he felt at her death had probably 
 
58 CORREGGIO. 
 
 much, to do willi this sudden retirement from the scene of hia 
 greatest triumphs, although other causes no douht helped to 
 determine him. The Chajjter of the Cathedral seem to have 
 been but half-satisfied with the execution of the great works 
 they had ordered. They were however not prepared to break 
 their agreement with the painter, and entrust the completion 
 of the Cathedral to other artists, as, after his death, they 
 claimed from his heirs the return of a small sum paid for work 
 still uncompleted and so showed that they had gone on 
 expecting his return. They had probably continually annoyed 
 the master with depreciation of his work, and possibly with 
 a liberal exposition of their own views as to how such 
 subjects ought to be treated. The payment of the second 
 instalment of the money on November 17th, 1530, seems to 
 have brought matters to a crisis, for it was immediately after 
 this that AUegri returned to his native town, there to pass 
 the remainder of his life. He appears either to have been 
 thoroughly tired of his dealings with his ecclesiastical patrons, 
 or else to have been at length convinced that the true sphere 
 of his talent did not lie in sacred scenes, for, after his return 
 to Correggio, we find him devoting himself exclusively to 
 mythologic and allegoric subjects — unless indeed the Beading 
 Magdalen belongs to this time. 
 
 His first act on his return to Correggio was to invest the 
 money he had just received for his works in the Cathedral at 
 Parma, in the purchase of a piece of land. This was bought 
 by himself froni the widow of a certain Giovanni Cattania of 
 Correggio for the sum of 195 scudi 10 soldi. His father had 
 already let a house for him in the Borgo Nuovo, in May of 
 this year , so that the stories of his sulferings from extreme 
 poverty in the latter part of his life, are evidently wholly 
 without foundation. 
 
RETUBN TO CORRBGGIO. 59 
 
 Antonio Allegri was now thirty-six years of age, and had 
 just given proof of what his genius was capahle, so that 
 this voluntary retirement into comparative obscurity is a 
 most rare instance of modesty and absence of ambition in the 
 annals of art. He seems now to have secured a competence — 
 however mean this competence might have appeared to the 
 other great masters of that age — and the use he makes of his 
 freedom is for the future to accept only such commissions as 
 pleased him ; to devote equal — he could not give greater — 
 care to their execution, and to pass the remaining years of his 
 life among the scenes he loved best, where, surrounded by 
 his relations and friends of early life, he could be free from the 
 agitations and annoyances that had beset his life in Parma. 
 Who can say that such a life was one less to be envied than 
 the more brilliant positions occupied by Eaphael and Titian 1 
 
 It was some little time however before he could be quite 
 free of the connexion with Parma. In February 1531, he 
 was again in that city making some arrangement with the 
 architectura;l inspector of the Cathedral ; but what this ar- 
 rangement was, is not known. Later on in the same year, 
 his name appears as witness to several legal documents in 
 Correggio, so that his stay in Parma could not have been a 
 prolonged one. He probably lived in the house left him by 
 his uncle in the Borgo Vecchio, which was afterwards sold 
 by his son Pomponio. His life must have been retired both 
 here and in Parma, as is proved by the difficulty afterwards 
 experienced by his hiographers in collecting any personal 
 recollections of the great painter. Vasari, who visited Parmii 
 only eight years after AUegri's death, could collect even 
 then but very uncertain and unsatisfactory particulars, 
 and, as we have seen, gives us, in place of reliable information, 
 his own deductions from the obscurity of the master's life. 
 
GO CORREGGIO. 
 
 He tells tis clearly however that no portrait has been left of 
 him either painted, by himself or by any other master. Vasari 
 himself seems to have been the first who even made inquiries 
 about such a portrait, and it was not until after the visit of the 
 Carracci, in 1580, that public interest was sufficiently excited 
 in him to rouse a desire to find a likeness. Then, of course, 
 many were forthcoming but none can be proved to be genuine. 
 One is supposed to represent a miniature painter — Antonio 
 Bernieri da Correggio ; another to be the portrait of a priest 
 bearing the same name Antonio da Correggio ; a third repre- 
 sents an old man with a wrinkled brow, and so is manifestly 
 not the Allegri who died in his fortieth year; a fourth — that 
 most generally known in England is one that we would gladly 
 accept as genuine if there could only be found some reason- 
 able probability — is the one taken from a fresco by Lattanzio 
 Gambara on the west wall of the Cathedral at Parma. It 
 represents a handsome man in the prime of life with a 
 thoughtful expression and holding a palette in his hand. 
 But, alas! Lattanzio was only born in 1533, and there is 
 no record of any earlier work from which it might have been 
 copied. 
 
 The two mythologic works which from the execution 
 were apparently the first of Correggio's mythologic paint- 
 ings in order of time, are the Jupiter and Antiope of the 
 Louvre, and the Education of Cupid (or School of Love) in 
 our own National Gallery. The origin of both is unknown 
 and also the exact date of their execution, but they appear to 
 belong to the middle period of his art, and may therefore have 
 been painted at any time between 1522 and 1530. The earliest 
 record we have of them is in the collection of the Dukes of 
 Mantua. They are mentioned in the catalogue of that 
 Gallery drawn up in 1627. In it, the Louvre picture is 
 
"JUPITEB AND ANTIOPE." 61 
 
 called Venus, Cupid and a Satyr, and this seems more ap- 
 propriate than the title now given to it, although there is 
 nothing more distinctive to connect the nymph with Venus 
 than, with Antiope, and the bow at her side would seem to 
 point rather to her being merely intended to represent a 
 nymph tired with the chase. Both these pictures were sold 
 by Duke Viucenzo II. of Gonzaga, and were purchased, by 
 Cliarles I. of England. At the sale of the art treasures of 
 that king, the Jupiter and Antiope was bought by the banker 
 Jabach, and at his death passed to Cardinal Mazarin, and 
 finally to Louis XIV. The Education of Cupid passed 
 through stUl more hands. On leaving England, it was owned 
 in turn by the I)uke of Alva, and by Godoy, the Prince of 
 Peace, from whose collection in Madrid Murat carried it off 
 just as it was about to be sold by auction. Murat's widow, 
 the ex-queen of Naples, took it to Vienna, where it was 
 bought by the Marquis of Londonderry, who afterwards sold 
 it to the National Gallery. 
 
 In the Jupiter and Antiope we see a nymph asleep in 
 a wood, with a Cupid at her side, also sleeping soundly. 
 The exquisite painting and minute finish of this work 
 are equal to anything ever attempted by this master, 
 and the beautiful woodland scene in which the group is 
 placed shows what Correggio could do in landscape. Mr. 
 Ruskin diaws especial attention to tlie foliage of the oak 
 under which the nymph is sleeping. The • small picture 
 of the Education of Cupid also shows a group of three 
 figures : Mercury, who is seated, is engaged in helping 
 Cupid to read a paper which he holds in his hand. Venus, 
 leaning against a tree points laughingly to Cupid. It is a 
 proof that Correggio cared no more for the trammels of 
 tradition in mythologic than in sacred art, that he has 
 
62 COBEEGGIO. 
 
 defied all precedent by giving Venus wings. This picture is 
 indeed what Waagen in his " Treasures of Art in Great 
 Britain " has called it — sculpture on a flat surface. To give 
 this effect the painter used the utmost art and refinement in 
 his flesh, tints and in the reflected light and shadows. The 
 countenance however of the goddess of beauty is by no means 
 equal to the rest of the picture, and is certainly disappointing 
 when we remember the Antiope and the many lovely, faces 
 the master had depicted. The picture too has sufi'ered from 
 time and its many journeys, and has been touched up under 
 the name of restoration with darker colours, which have 
 certainly far from restored it to its pristine beauty. 
 
 Allegri's life both in Parma and after his return to his 
 native town was, as we have already seen, very retired. 
 Little is related of his friendships in either place but there is 
 evidence to show that he was at all events known and 
 respected by the reigning family of Correggio. A letter is 
 extant from Yeronica Gambara to Beatrice d'Este of Mantua 
 dated September 3rd, 1528. In this she says: "I should 
 consider myself very remiss towards your Highness if I 
 omitted to allude to a master-work in painting, which our 
 Antonio AUegri has just completed, as I know your Highness, 
 who is such a connoisseur in matters, would be pleased with 
 it. The picture represents the Magdalen, who has fled into 
 a dark cavern in a desert to do penance. ' She kneels to the 
 right, and with her clasped hands raised up to heaven implores 
 pardon for her sins. The beauty of her position, the expres- 
 sion of sublime though intense grief, and her very charming 
 face render her so lovely, that everybody who sees it marvels. " 
 !N"othing is known of this picture ; it is not found among the 
 catalogue made of Veronica's works of art at her death — as 
 indeed none of Correggio's works are, and the picture was not 
 
VERONIOA GAMBARA. 63 
 
 necessarily painted for her. But the allusion to our Antonio 
 Allegri is very valuable as showing the pride she felt in the 
 one great artist of her little town. It also shows that she 
 was accustomed to speak of his paintings to her friends and 
 justifies Dr. Meyer in attributing to her agency rather than 
 to that of Giulio Komano the commission which our master 
 received about the year 1530 to paint two pictures for the 
 Emperor Charles V. 
 
 Veronica Gambara certainly had opportunities for recom- 
 mending him, as during the year 1529, and part of 1530 she 
 resided in Bologna, where her artistic and literary tastes 
 gathered round her a circle of distinguished men. She may 
 very possibly have gone there to be present at the coronation of 
 Charles V. as King of Italy. Her position would make this 
 natural, as one of her brothers had been appointed vice- 
 regent by Clement. VII., and another was chamberlain and 
 general-in-waiting to the Emperor. At Bologna, she cer- 
 tainly met the Emperor, who promised to stay with her at 
 Correggio on his way back to Germany. This he seems to 
 have done towards the end of March 1530, when he passed 
 two days at Correggio. Antonio Allegri we have seen was 
 in Parma at that time, but Veronica very probablj' spoke of 
 him now to the Emperor and afterwards let the Duke of 
 Mantua, FedErigo II., know that a present of some works by 
 Allegri would be acceptable to the Emperor. 
 
 Vasari tells us that the paititings destined for the Emperor 
 were " a naked Leda " and a " Venus." His descriptions 
 however are confused, and no known works of Allegri's would 
 exactly correspond with either ; so we conclude that it is the 
 Leda and D-mas that are meant. That representing Leda 
 is now in the Gallery at Berlin. It is a more elaborate 
 composition than Allegri often undertook, and more figures 
 
61 CORREUGIO.- 
 
 are introduced. Leda and her companions while bathing 
 are surprised hy some swans, and their attitudes, as half in 
 play they attempt to drive them ofiF, are very natural and 
 graceful. 
 
 If pictures could relate their own history, this Leda would 
 have a curious story to tell. It must have passed at an 
 early date into G-ermanji- and was bought for the collection of 
 the Emperor Rudolph II. at Prague. It next appears in 
 Sweden, where it was doubtless carried at the time of the 
 Swedish occupation of Prague. Queen Christina is said to 
 have presented it to Livio Odescalchi. In 1722, it passed 
 into the famous collection of the dukes of the Orleans family, 
 and it was one of these dukes — Louis the son of the Eegent, 
 and a Jansenist — who was so much scandalized at the face 
 both of Leda and also of that in a copy of Correggio's lo that 
 he cut the two heads out of the pictures, and threw them into 
 the fire, ending his work by cutting the canvas into strips. 
 The iragments were rescued from utter destruction by Noel 
 Coypel, superintendent of the Gallery. He placed them on 
 fresh canvas, and painted in new heads. The pictures were 
 afterwards bought for Frederick the Great. I"rom Sans- 
 Souci, they were again brought to Paris at the time of what a 
 French writer calls " nos illustres pillages." Here they were 
 again restored and at their final return to Berlin after the 
 peace, Leda's head was once more painted in by Schlesinger, 
 who, to make it in accordance with the old pain ting,, imitateil 
 even to the cracks left by time. 
 
 Tlie second picture presented to Charles V. by the Duke of 
 Mantua, is supposed to have been Dancie lying on a Couch 
 ■with Love arid two Putti. When in possession of Louis of 
 Orleans it escaped his notice, and is now in the Borghese 
 Gallery at Eome. It has been carefully cleaned and is in a 
 
" GANYMEDE." 65 
 
 good state of preservation. This painting represents Danaij 
 lying partly in shade, and covered with white drapery on 
 which the golden shower is falling. Love or Hymen is 
 sitting on the foot of the bed, pointing to the shower of gold, 
 and the two little Loves in the corner are busy sharpening 
 their arrows. These Cupids are exquisite, but as in the Educa- 
 tion of Cupid the face of the principal figure is, we think, 
 deficient in beauty. 
 
 Two representations of Ganymede have been attributed to 
 Correggio. One of these — an oil painting in the Belvedere 
 GaUery at Vienna — has been now restored to Parmigiano, 
 to whom it was at first attributed ; the second, a medallion 
 in fresco, representing Ganymede tome on an Eagle to the 
 feet of Jupiter, removed from the walls of the Palazzo 
 Rocca at jSToveUara, to the Gallery at Modena, has greater 
 probability to support its claims to be a genuine Correggio ; 
 though it is so much dilapidated that it is diflicult to trace 
 his hand in it. The Palace however belonged to the Count 
 Gonzaga di Novellara, whose family was a collateral branch 
 of the Gonzagas of Mantua, so that the Count would almost 
 certainly have heard of AUegri's fame, and may well have 
 wished to secure some specimen of his work. Dr. Meyer 
 pronounces it thoroughly Correggesque in style. 
 
 Another allegoric work belonging to this time is a painting 
 in the Vienna Gallery, called lo embraced by Jupiter in a 
 Clovd. lo is here the chief figure. She is sitting with, her 
 back to tlie spectator turning bashfully aside from Jupiter, 
 whose head only is seen emerging from the cloud, as he bends 
 forward to kiss her while his arm encircles her waist. It is 
 not clearly ascertained whether this picture was also painted 
 for Charles V., though it seems highly proDable. It was 
 bought of the sculptor Pompeo Leoni, who appears to have 
 
 JP 
 
66 C0EEEG(3I0. 
 
 obtained it from Philip II., for the Eniporor Rudolph II. It 
 escaped the fate of the Leda by being sent to Vienna instead 
 of to Prague. Two old copies are known of this work — the 
 one at Berlin, mutilated as we have seen by the Duke of 
 Orleans, and another called A Dream, in the possession of 
 Count Gonzaga di NoveUara. 
 
 Critics invariably call attention to the simplicity of Allegri's 
 composition. He seldom attempts an elaborate subject or, at 
 least in an easel picture, one requiring many figures. His 
 evident aim in every subject, whether sacred or mythologic, 
 is to represent it with the utmost grace and physical beauty 
 possible, and he cares but little for the correctness of 
 the accessories. It is but seldom indeed that he troubles 
 himself with any deeper significance in his compositions 
 than the most perfect rendering of sensuous beauty, and 
 it is therefore with some surprise, although such works 
 were much in fashion among painters of that time, that 
 we find that his latest works were allegories. Two of 
 these are now in the Cabinei de desseins of the Louvre. 
 These are painted in tempera on linen, and are the only ones 
 extant in that style by Allegri. They are companion 
 sketches, and represent — one the Triumph of Virtue, the other 
 Vice with the Passions. In the firsl; of these Virtue, a noble 
 woman fully armed, is leaning upon a broken lance, while 
 she is being crowned by Victory. Another female figure 
 seated somewhat below Virtue, and holding in her hand a 
 sword and bridle, represents Justice and Moderation. Wis- 
 dom is typified by a young woman more in the background, 
 who, with one hand is measuring a globe, and with the other 
 pointing to the distant landscape. Three figures float in the 
 air above the group, the goddesses of Pame and Renown, and 
 one of Carreggio's favourite Putti leans against Wisdom. 
 
ALLEGOEIO PIECES. 67 
 
 Vice under the Yoke of the Passions is shown by a naked man 
 bound to a tree^ to ■which he is being still more firmly fastened 
 by a woman who is supposed to represent Habit. Behind him 
 stands Voluptuousness, a coarse spnsual-looking figure, who, 
 by playing a flute close to his ear, prevents him from paying 
 heed to the reproaches of Conscience, or from noticing the 
 vipers in her hands, which are stretching out their necks to 
 him. A different stage of vice is seen in the laughing boy 
 satyr in front holding a bunch of grapes. 
 
 These sketches were no doubt painted for Isabella Gonzaga, 
 Marchese of Mantua, aftpr Allegri had finished the orders 
 from her son Federigo for the pictures intended for Charles "V. 
 This lady is known to have taken great interest in art and to 
 have left a valuable collection, of paintings. She died in 
 1539, only a few years after Allegri, and in the catalogue 
 then made of the works of art in her possession, these pictures 
 are mentioned. They passed, probably in company with the 
 Antiope, into the collection of Charles I., and from thence to 
 France. A repetition of the Triumph of Virtue with some 
 alterations is in the Doria Gallery at Eome : this is likewise 
 painted in distemper, and has a peculiar value from its being 
 unfinished, and so revealing the artist's method of laying on 
 his colours. He is here seen to have produced ths -swished 
 for effect in a very early stage, though, as we know, tins did 
 not prevent him from finishing most minutely afterwards. 
 He has laid over the canvas a preparatory coating of warm 
 brown. The figures are in different stages of progress — some 
 are only sketched in red : another has a coating of black and 
 white ; a third — the figure of Virtue — is painted in white and 
 a brownish black. Only one head is quite complete. 
 
 This unfinished replica is the last work of the great master. 
 According to a legal document dated June 15th, 1534, Allegri 
 
 p 2 
 
68 CORBEGGIO. 
 
 accepted a commission from Alberto Panciroii tc iiaiut a 
 large altar-piece for tlie church of Sant' Agostino in Cor- 
 reggio, hut the same document records that the sum of twenty- 
 five scudi paid in advance, had been restored by Pellegrino 
 Allegri, on his son's death without completing the agreement. 
 
 The following is the account given by Vasari of the painter's 
 death : — " It is related that being at Parma, and having there 
 received a payment of sixty scudi, the sum was given to him 
 in copper money, which he, desiring to carry to Correggio for 
 some particular demand, loaded himself withal ; he then set 
 forward on foot for his home. The heat being very great at 
 the time, Antonio suffered much from the burning sun, and 
 sought to refresh himself by drinking water, but a raging- 
 fever compelled him to take to his bed, and from this he 
 never raised his head again, but departed from this life to 
 another, being then in the fortieth year of his age, or there- 
 about." We have already seen that this account, which 
 apparently rests on the vaguest traditions, is quite inconsistent 
 with what is known of the position and character of Allegri. 
 It is besides rendered impossible by the fact that the weight 
 of such a sum in copper would be equal to between three 
 and four hundredweight ! 
 
 We are able then confidently to rejeoT; this fable, but we 
 have no . trustworthy evidence to give in its place. The 
 parish records of the Pranciscan church of Correggio record 
 the great master's death on March 5th, 1534, and this is all 
 that we know about it. The fact that he had lately under- 
 taken a new commission, and that there had been no falling 
 ■ off in his powers, tend to show that his illness could not have 
 been a long one. He died at the age of forty, leaving, so far 
 as we know, one unfinished picture in his studio and having 
 one unexecuted order on hand. 
 
3 
 
 <§ 
 
BURIAL. 69 
 
 The great painter was buried with the utmost simplicity 
 in what was probably the family burying-place — an ex- 
 terior cross-passage of the church of San Francesco. A 
 wooden tablet was erected to his memory bearing the words : 
 Antonino db AiLBGRis, PjCTOB. In the seventeenth century, 
 as a consequence of the ardour aroused by the enthusiasm of 
 the Carracci, a subscription list was opened to raise a monu- 
 ment worthy of such a great master. It failed however to 
 effect the purpose, as only forty scudi were collected. Some 
 years later a priest, Girolamo Conti, replaced the wooden 
 tablet by a stone one, and in 1687 the commonalty of the 
 ';own again bestirred themselves, and this time went so far as 
 to draw up a contract with a sculptor, who was to execute 
 the monument. By some means however, incomprehensible 
 to us, the scheme again fell through. Father Eesta, in the 
 interests of his collection of drawings, tried once more to 
 bring the subject on the tapis, but without success. Before 
 another attempt was made, the chapel had been altered, and the 
 remains of the illustrious painter removed to another place 
 not very clearly specified. So that at last, when in 1786, the 
 precious relics were sought for, great doubt was felt as to 
 their genuineness. The town authorities however did their 
 best to settle the matter by declaring that the remains which 
 had been found were proved to belong to the great artist by 
 " incontrovertible testimony." They took them up with the 
 greatest care, sent the skull to the Academy of Modena and 
 placed the rest of the bones in an urn in the Senate House of 
 Correggio. 
 
 The question whether Allegri would have attained a greater 
 degree of perfection in his art had he lived longer, has been 
 much discussed, but it seems to us an unprofitable one. No 
 
70 CQEREGGIO. 
 
 trace of decline can he seen in any of his later pictures, but 
 at the same time it is difficult to imagine any improvement 
 in the physical beauty, he so well depicted, and there is no 
 sign visible anywhere of an attempt after more spirituality. 
 The general opinion, therefore, seems reasonable that he had 
 attained the highest perfection he was capable of reaching, 
 and that any change would have been for the worse. 
 
 Had he lived longer, there is little doubt that his name, 
 which had lately begun to spread among the art-patrons in Italy, 
 would have become widely known, and in a few years' time 
 the celebrity he so little courted would have come to him 
 unasked. Dying at the age of forty, however, it at first 
 seemed as if his fame were destined to die with him. He 
 had founded no school, and during his life there were few 
 painters who could be said to have modelled their style 
 on his. He had indeed brought up his son Pomponio as 
 a painter, but as he died when this son was only twelve 
 years old, he could have taught him but little. Each 
 year, however, that passed after Correggio's death seems to 
 have increased his influence over painting. This influence 
 however coming as it did when painting had already reached 
 its highest development was of little real use. The admirers 
 of Correggio, like those of Michelangelo, by the imitation 
 and exaggeration of his style, only succeeded in bringing on 
 more rapidly the decay of art. 
 
 Little is known of the subsequent fate of the great painter's 
 family. Several pictures by Pomponio Allegri are preserved 
 in the Academy at Parma, and in a chapel at the side of the 
 grand dome in the Cathedral painted by his father, there is a 
 fresco by Pomponio which shows, by melancholy contrast 
 how far the sou was below the father— especially in com- 
 position. Some of the separate heads and figures possess 
 
POMPONIO ALLEGRI. 71 
 
 consideraWe beauty, and suggest the idea that Pomponio must 
 have made free use of the designs and sketches left by his 
 parent. Pomponio was not much greater as a man of busLaess 
 than as a painter for he seems soon to have been in pecuniary 
 difficulties, although he began life in comfortable circum- 
 stances with the money left him. by his father and grand- 
 father. His father's reputation too had secured him the 
 favour of the princes of Correggio as well as many com- 
 missions from other patrons of art. 
 
 The date of Pomponio's death is not known, and it is only 
 supposition, which indicates a certain Antonio Allegri, a door 
 and window painter, as a son of Pomponio and grandson of 
 the great Correggio. Of his daughters' fate no trace has been 
 found. Little interest was at first felt in the subject and 
 when at last the inhabitants of Parma and Correggio awoke 
 to an understanding of the merits of the great man who had 
 passed his life among them — his dwelling-place, his family 
 and all personal remembrance of him had disappeared. 
 
 The greatest painter influenced by the manner of Correggio 
 was undoubtedly Francesco Mazzola, called Parmigiano, or 
 in Italy, to distinguish him from others who were also 
 natives of Parma, Parmigianino. He was born at Parma in 
 1504, and as his father died when he was a child, he was 
 brought up by two uncles with his cousin Girolamo Bedola 
 Mazzola. Both uncles and nephews were painters, and all 
 seem to have been deeply influenced by the new style of 
 painting introduced by Correggio. 
 
 Francesco Mazzola was at a most impressionable age while 
 Correggio was executing his great works in San Giovanni 
 and the Cathedral, and although he was never an actual 
 scholar of the great njaster, yet he probably learnt as much 
 
72 CORREGGIO. 
 
 from working under him, and endeavouring to copy his 
 manner, as if he had entered his studio as a pupil. Nothing 
 but real genius saved him from becoming a mere imitator. 
 
 In 1523, Parmigiano went to Eome, where his works were 
 much admired — the more so doubtless that Correggio was 
 unknown there at that time. The Pope, Clement VII., 
 especially appreciated his works, and the young painter pre- 
 sented him with several of his finest productions. Among 
 these was a curious portrait of himself as seen in a convex 
 mirror, the glassy surface being well preserved. 
 
 He rose rapidly in favour at the Papal Court, and was in, 
 hopes of receiving the commission to paint a wall of the 
 Vatican, that had just been prepared for frescoes, when, in 
 1527 all art work in Eome was suddenly interrupted by the 
 siege and sack of the city by the troops of Charles V. under 
 the Constable de Bourbon. Most of the painters fled while 
 there was yet time, but Parmigiano, trusting as we cannot 
 help thinking, to the effect that might be produced by 
 imitating the conduct of the Greek painter Protogenes at the 
 siege of Ehodes, remained at his post painting diligently. 
 He is said to have been engaged on the large altar-piece of 
 the Madonna and Child with St. Jerome now in the National 
 Gallery of London, when the soldiers burst into the room 
 bent on plunder. They were fortunately accompanied by an 
 officer, who was so struck with admiration that he allowed 
 the painter to ransom his effects by the present of a few 
 sketches. This did not suffice, however, with the next band 
 of soldiers that arrived, and he was at last forced to fly, robbed 
 of all that he possessed, except his talent. 
 
 He went to Bologna, where he was soon hard at work 
 making etchings from his own designs. In this he was 
 most successful, and the fifteen plates executed by him, show 
 
TAKMIGIANO. 73 
 
 the true artist's work. M. Duplessis, in Lis "Histoire de la 
 Gravure," says : "Francesco Mazzola succeeded in obtaining 
 effects unknown before him. The plates which he signed, 
 drawn with elegance and distinction, whUe they show a 
 certain carelessness for the purity and fineness of the execu- 
 tion, reveal all the qualities of the painter — gracefulness and 
 a sort of peculiar beauty which does not interfere either 
 with bold outlines or with tall and graceful forms. They 
 also show a knowledge of chiaroscuro which was unknown to 
 his predecessors in engraving." 
 
 The remainder of Parmigiano's life is very sad. He was 
 robbed of some of his designs and tools by a friend, who was 
 helping him, and he then returned to painting. Many of 
 his chief easel pictures were executed during his stay at 
 Bologna. He seems, however, to have been dissatisfied with 
 himself and his own work, and to have tried incessantly to 
 find out a new career in painting, in which he should not be 
 a mere imitator of his predecessors. So he forestalled the 
 Carracci by an attempt at eclecticism, which failed, as those 
 attempts are apt to fail. The mighty forms of Michel- 
 angelo do not suit well the Correggesque grace which he 
 sought to engraft on them. He even tried to improve the 
 tender grace and delicate finish he had learned from Correggio, 
 and thus too often rendered his figures affected, or spoiled their 
 symmetry by making them out of proportion — as in the Ma- 
 donna del Col lungo in the Pitti Palace at Plorence where the 
 neck of the Virgin is so long as to be almost a deformity. 
 
 The painter was keenly alive to his own shortcomings, and 
 it seems to have given him a distaste for his art. On his 
 return to Parma in 1531, plenty of commissions awaited him ; 
 Correggio had retired to end his days in his native town, and 
 Parmigiano was without a rival in the city. He was at once 
 
71 COEREQGIO. 
 
 engaged to paint, a chapel in tlie church of La Steccata, and 
 received half the money in advance. Delays occurred about 
 the erection of the scaffolding, and the artist undertook and 
 executed private commissions in the . meantime. At last he 
 began his work and painted in the church the frescoes of 
 Adam and Eve, and the Moses hreaking the Tables of the 
 Law which Sir Joshua Eeynolds highly' admired. ' Again 
 the painter abandoned his work, and was at last arrested for 
 not having fulfilled his contract. However, as it appeared 
 that the artist could not well complete his frescoes while in 
 prison, he was grudgingly released after having given a solemn 
 promise that he would now really finish the work. Instead 
 of doing so, however, he fled to Casal-Maggiore, where he 
 died soon after of a violent fever in 1540, at the age of thirty- 
 seven — the same as that at which Eapliael died. The evident 
 failure of the latter part of his short life has been attributed 
 to various causes. It has been said that he gambled — but this 
 was disproved by his Parinese biographer the Padre Affo — 
 and that he wasted his time ia researches after the Philoso- 
 pher's Stone — and this seems more probable. Chemistry, or 
 what passed for chemistry, was one of the subjects then 
 exciting most interest, and to an eager mind like Parmigiano's, 
 always seeking for some new way in Vhich to distinguish 
 itself, it would have special attraction. His chief works 
 are the frescoes in the churches of San Giovanni and the 
 Steccata at Parma ; a Holy Family and his own Portrait in 
 the Uffizi Gallery ; the Madonna with the long neck in the 
 Pitti Palace at Florence ; the Virgin and GJdld with St. 
 Margaret, at Bologna — which is generally considered his finest 
 work - and a small repetition of which is in the Louvre ; Virgin 
 and Gliild 'tcith Saints, and Madonnw toith the Rose in the 
 
FOLLOWERS. , 75 
 
 Dresden Gallery, and Cupid malcing his Bow at Vienna. 
 This last was long attributed to Correggio. 
 
 Of other followers of Correggio the best known are : 
 Francesoo Capelli who afterwards settled in Bologna, and 
 who acquired so much of his master's style as to have one 
 of his pictures, a 8t. Sebastian at his native Sassuolo, 
 attributed to Correggio ; Giovanni Giaeola of Eeggio — a 
 fresco painter, who acquired something of his master's 
 delicacy in execution, though his drawing is hasty and 
 careless ; Antonio Bbbnibri (1516—1565), a miniature 
 painter, who from being called " da Correggio " to distinguish 
 him as a pupU of the great master has sometimes been con- 
 founded with the master himself ; Bebnabdino Gatti (1495 — 
 1575) called II Sojaro, the cooper, from the trade of his 
 father. No paintings by Gatti are to be found in the 
 Academy at Parma, but Hirt, a German writer, says of his 
 works at Naples, that "they are composed with the dis- 
 cretion of Leonardo, designed with the learning of Michel- 
 angelo, inspired with the breath of Eaphael, coloured with 
 the fresh tone of Titian and transfused with the chiaroscuro of 
 Correggio." Vasari also speaks of Sojaro in terms of praise, but 
 not quite so high-flown as those of Hirt. Giorgio Gandini, 
 who appears to have been highly thought of in Parma, and 
 who completed the dome in the Cathedral, a small portion of 
 which Correggio had left unfinished. 
 
 The greatest painters who were influenced by Correggio's 
 style during his lifetime were Francesco and Girolamo 
 Mazzola and Girolamo da Carpi, of whom Vasari says that 
 one of Correggio's works — ■Christ appearing to Mary Magda- 
 len — " did so possess itself of the heart of Girolamo that he 
 could not satisfy himself with copying it, aiid at length set 
 
76 
 
 COEREGGIO. 
 
 off for Moduna to see the other works of Correggio in that 
 place." Here he saw the Mama/je of St. Catherine, now in 
 the Louvre, and the Madonna of St. George, now at 
 Dresden. He then passed on to Parma, where he copied the 
 frescoes in the Cathedral and in the church of San Giovanni, 
 and his style became thoroughly Correggesque in character, 
 thourfi he was never a scholar of the master himself. 
 
THE PEINCIPAL WOEKS OF COEEEGGIO. 
 
 I. Fbbscoes in Parma. 
 In the CatTiecl/ral. 
 
 Assumption of the Virgin ; the twelve Apostles : the four 
 Patron Saints of Parma, John the Baptist, Thomas, Hilary, 
 and Bernard [on the dome']. Fainted in 1526-30. An 
 original sketch for this is in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, 
 (n San Giovanni Evangelista. 
 
 — ■Ascension of Christ ; with his twelve Apostles ! the four Evan- 
 gelists ; with the four Fathers of the Church [on the dome] 
 Painted in 1521-23. (Water-colour copies a/re in the South 
 Kensington Museum.) The frieze of emhlems of the Evange- 
 lists, and Putti, done in monochrome, were padnted from Oor- 
 reggio's designs by his pupils Bondani and ForelU. 
 St. John [over the door leading to the cloisters]. 
 I ■; the Convent of San Panln (mm/i n, sr. JinnB. 
 
 Diana [^over the chimney-piece]. Mythologio and allegprio 
 figures, in sixteen lunettes in monochrome; and sixteen 
 groups of " Putti," m medallion,s [on the vaulted ceiling]. 
 Painted in 1518-19. (Water-colou/r copies may be seen on the 
 south-west staircase of the South Kensington Museum.) 
 
 Cf.. the Palazzo della Pilotta. 
 In the Library, 
 
 Christ and the Virgin. [^Part r.f the original painting oj 
 " The Coronation of the Virgin " executed in 1524 on tlie half 
 dome of the choir of San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma: re- 
 moved in 1584 when the choir was altered. Other portions are 
 in the collection of Lord Dudley. Copies of this work by 
 Agostimo and Annibale Carracci a/re in the Pictv/re Gallery.] 
 In the Picture Gallery. 
 
 Madonna della Scala. '[^PormerVy in the ch/u/rch of the 
 
78 THE PBINCIPAL WORKS OF COEREGGIO. 
 
 In the Picture Gallery. 
 
 Madonna della Scala : originally painted in 1520 over the 
 Porta Boma'na.'] 
 
 ATinunoiation. [Formerly in the ehv/rch of the An/mmziata, 
 in Pa/rma.'] 
 
 II. Easel Pictures. 
 
 A. Sacked Subjects. 
 
 Adoration of the Shepterda. " La Notte." Painted in 1522-30 for 
 
 Alberto Pratonero for San. Frospero at Peggio, which now only 
 
 possesses a copy. The original is in the Dresden Oallery. 
 
 Christ's Agony in the Garden. Perha/ps pcdnted about 1525. The 
 original is at Apsley house : copies are in the National Qallery, 
 the Uffiei, Florence, and the Madrid Gallery. 
 
 Christ and' the Magdalen. ("Noli me tangers.") ' PaAnted about 
 
 1519. Doubted by Dr. Meyer. In the Madrid Gallery. 
 Christ presented by Pilate to the People. (" Ecoe Homo.") Probably 
 
 painted about 1520. Dr. Meyer avd others doubt its amthenti- 
 city ; but all agree that it is the design of Correggio. In the 
 National Gallery, London. An old copy was bought by Messrs. 
 Golnaghi for £273 at the Hamilton Palace Sale, July 1, 1882. 
 
 Christ mourned hy the "Vii'gin (PietS.). Painted om linen in 1522-24 
 for Placido del Bono for his chapel m Sojn Giovanni Evcmgelista, 
 Parma. In the Parma Gallery : a copy is in the Ma,d/rid 
 Gallery. 
 
 " Madonna della Cesta." (" La Vierge au panier.") Probably painted 
 about 1520. The original is in the National Gallery ; an old 
 copy is in the Dulwich College Gallery, and another in the 
 Madrid Gallery. 
 
 " Madonna del Coniglio." ("La Zingarella.") Probably pamted in 
 
 1520. The original is in the Naples Gallery. A similar picture 
 is in the Belvedere, Vienna. 
 
 " Madonna of St. Francis." (Madonna and Child with SS. Francis and 
 Anthony of Padua, and SS. John the Baptist and Catherine.) 
 Painted in 1514-15 for the Minorite Church at Correggio. Cor- 
 reggio's earliest work. Signed Anioius de Alegkis P. In the 
 Dresden Gallery. 
 
THE PRINCIPAL WOKKS OF CORREGGIO. 79 
 
 " Madonna of St. George." (Madonna and Child with SS. Gemiuianus 
 and John the Baptist, and SS. Peter Martyr and George.) 
 Perhaps 'painted, in 1530-32 for the Brotherhood of San Pietro 
 MairUre in Modena. In the Dresden Gallery. 
 
 " Madonna di San Girolamo." (" St. Jerome," " II Giorao." Ma- 
 donna and Child with St. Jerome, the Magdalen and an Angel.) , 
 Painted in 1527-28 /or Donna Briseide CoUafor Sant' Antonio 
 Abbate at Parma. The original is in the Parma Gallery. A 
 copy, said to be iy Lodovico Carracci, is in Bridgwater House, 
 London. ' 
 
 " Madonna della Soodella." (The Flight into Egypt.) Fainted in 
 1527-28, proiaily for San Sepolcro, Panna. In the Pa/rma 
 Gallery. 
 
 "Madonna of St. Sebastian." (Madonna and Child with SS. Sebas- 
 tian, Geminianus and Eooh.) Painted in 1525 for the Guild of 
 St. Sebastian for the cliapel of St. Geminianus in the Cathedral 
 at Modena. In the Dresden Gallery. 
 
 Madonna adoring the Infant Christ. Probably painted about 1519. 
 In the JJffizi, Florence. 
 
 Madonna and Infant Christ, to whom an angel offers fruit Painted 
 probably about 1519-21. fn the Hermitage, St. Petersburg. 
 Simila/r pictures, also by Correggio, are in the Buda-Pesth 
 Gallery and the Palazzo Torlonia, Rome. 
 
 Martyrdom of SS. Plaoidus and Flavia. Painted on linen in 1522-24 
 for Plaeido del Bono for his chapel in San Giovanni Evange- 
 Usta, Pa/rma. In the Pa/rma Gallery. 
 
 Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine. Painted in 1517 or 1518. In the 
 Louvre. A somewhat simila/r pictv/re is in the Naples Gallery : 
 by some critics said to be only a copy by Lodovico Carracci, but 
 more generally accepted as a genuine work of Correggio. Old 
 copies are m the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, and Bridgwater 
 House, London. 
 
 Beading Magdalen. Painted towards the close of Correggio' s life. In 
 the Dresden Gallery. An old copy is in the possession of Lord 
 Dudley : a/nother, by Cristofano Allori {who copied it more than 
 once) is in the XJffizi, Florence. 
 
80 THE PKINCIPAL WORKS OF CORREGGIO. 
 
 Eepose in Egypt. In the Uffizi, Florence. Correggio painted in 1 514 
 a pictv/re of this subject for the church of the Frcmciscans at Cor- 
 reggio, probably by order of Fra/ncesco Muna/ri. Authorities 
 differ as to whether this Uffizi pictwre is actually his own work. 
 All, however, agree that it is his design. 
 
 B. Mythoiogic and Aliegoric Subjects. 
 
 Anliope with Cupid and Jupiter. Formerly called the " Sleeping 
 Venus." Padnted about the middle of Correggio's ca/reer. In the 
 Louvre. 
 
 Apollo and Marayas. Painted on the lid of a clavacin. In the Her- 
 mitage, St. Petersburg. 
 
 Danae and the Golden Shower. Painted for Charles V. In the. 
 
 Palazzo Borghese, Rome. 
 Ganymede carried off by an Eagle. Probably painted about 1530. A 
 
 fresco transferred to canvas, formerly in the Palazzo Bocca at 
 
 Novellara. Dr. Meyer doubts its genuineness. In the Modena 
 
 Gallery, 
 lo and Jupiter. Probably poAnted about 1530. In the Belvedere, 
 
 Vienna. An old copy is in the Berlin Museum. 
 
 Leda and Nymphs surprised by Swans. Pa/inted for Charles V. In 
 the Berlin Museum. A replica is in the Palazzo BospigUo^o, 
 Borne ; and an old copy is in the Madrid Gallery. 
 
 Mercury instructing Cupid in the presence of Tenns. (" The 
 Edncation of Cupid.") Painted about the middle of Correggio's 
 career. In the National Gallery, London. An old copy of part 
 of it is m the Dulwich College Gallery, 
 
 Triumph of Virtue. Painted . in tempera on linen for Isabella 
 Goniaga in 1533. In the Louvre. An unfinished replica is in 
 the Palazzo Doria, Rome. 
 
 Vice and the Passions.- Painted in tempera on Unen for Isabella 
 Qonzaga in 1533. In the Louvre. 
 
THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF OOREEGGIO. 81 
 
 III. Works commonly ascribed -with some reason to 
 
 CORREGGIO, BUT DOUBTED BY VARIOUS CRITICS.' 
 
 Christ bearing the Cross. Said to have been painted about 1520. In 
 the Parma Gallery. 
 
 Madonna and Child with SS. Mary Magdalen and Lneia. Signed 
 Antokius L^tus faciebat. Doubted by Dr. Meyer and other 
 critics, who consider it a copy of a long-lost original. Miindler 
 thought it genuine, and Correggio's ewrUest production. In 
 the Brera, Milan. A simila/r picture is in the parish church 
 of Albinea, near Reggio. 
 
 Madonna and Child with the Infant St. John. Considered by Frizzoni 
 to be one of Ooi-re^gio's earliest works. In the Ambrosian 
 GaZlery, Milan. 
 
 Madonna and Infant Christ with SS. Christopher, Michael and John 
 the Baptist. Said to have been pa/inted about 1519. In the 
 Pitti Palace, Florence. 
 
 Madonna undressing the Infant Christ. In the possession of the 
 Marchese Cesare Campari, Modena. 
 
 Man driving two Mules. Said to have been painted as a sign^board 
 for an inn in the Via Flaminia, Borne. At Stafford House, 
 London. 
 
 Portrait of a Doctor. Said to be an ectrly worJc. In the Dresden 
 Gallery. 
 
 SS. Peter, Margaret, Anthony of Padua and the Magdalen. Thought 
 to be the sarnie as the painting of " SS. Peter, Martha, Leonard 
 and the Magdalen" done in 1517. In lord Ashburton's 
 Collection. 
 
 Vengeance of Apollo on Marsyas and the Fate of Midas. Formerly in 
 the possession of Duke Litta of Milam. Now in the Hermitage, 
 St. Petersburg. 
 
 ' It would take up much space to no purpose to enumerate all the 
 works in public and private collections assigned on insufficient 
 grounds to Correggio. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAOB 
 The Virgin from " The Coronation of the Virgin " 
 
 In the BiMioteca, Parma. Frontispiece 
 
 The Madonna of St. Francis . ... In the Dresden Gallery 13 
 
 The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine . ... In the Louvre 15 
 
 Putti . From the frescoes in the Convent of San Paolo, Parma 21, 
 
 St. Thomas In San Qiovanni Evangelista, Parma 35 
 
 St. John the Evangelist . In Sam, Giovanni Evamgelista, Parma 39 
 
 Madonna della Soodella In the Parma Gallery 49 
 
 La Notte . .In the Dresden Gallery 55 
 
 II Giorno In the Parma Gallery 69 
 
CHRONOLOGY OF 
 THE LIFE OF COREEGGIO. 
 
 1494 
 
 1511 
 1514 
 1518 
 
 1519 
 1519 
 1520 
 
 1521 
 
 1521 
 
 1521 
 
 'Tfe22 
 
 1523 
 
 San Giovanni 
 
 Birth 
 
 Edncation — artistic and scientific 
 
 Stay at Mantua ... 
 
 First master-work . . . 
 
 Invitation to Parma .... 
 1518-19 Painted the Camera dj San Paolo . 
 1519 Bising fame 
 
 An uncle bequeaths him some pi operty 
 
 Marriage, at Correggio 
 
 Received Commission to paint dome of 
 Evangelistai, Parma .... 
 
 Lawsuit about his uncle's bequest 
 
 Return to Pai'ma 
 
 Birth of eldest child at Correggio 
 
 Received commission to paint choir and dome of the 
 Cathedral at Parma .... 
 
 Lawsuit about his wife's property 
 
 1528-29 Death of wife 
 
 1530 Return to Correggio .... 
 1530 Purchase of land at Correggio 
 ] 531 Short visit to Parma .... 
 1534 Death (March 5th) 
 
 P4.(}E 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 IG 
 
 22 
 23 
 24 
 25 
 
 35 
 24 
 25 
 25 
 
 41 
 25 
 57 
 57 
 58 
 59 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 (The names of paintings are printed in italic.) 
 
 Allegrt, Antonio, probably a 
 grandson of the painter 
 
 Allegri, Catherine, sister of the 
 painter, marries Vincenzo 
 Mariani .... 
 
 Allegri, Lorenzo 
 
 71 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Allegri, Pellegrino, father of 
 the painter .... 3 
 
 Allegri, Pomponio, son of thn 
 painter ... 59, 70 
 
 Annunciatinn . . .41 
 
 Anselmi, Michelangelo . . 41 
 
 o 2 
 
84 
 
 Apsley House . 
 
 Araldi, Alessandro 
 
 Aretusi, Cesare 
 
 Ashburtou, Lord 
 
 Ascension 
 
 AsswrnpUon of the Virgin 
 
 Augustus III. of Saxony pur- 
 chases coUeotiou of the 
 dukes of Modena 
 
 PAGE 
 
 . 32 
 18,39,41 
 . 37 
 . 14 
 . 36 
 
 54 
 
 Bartolommeo Merliui di Bra- 
 , ghetis, father of AUegri's 
 
 wife 25 
 
 Barfcolotti, Antonio ., . 4, 12 
 Beatrice d'Este, letter to . 62 
 Begarelli, the sculptor . . 45 
 Benedictine Monks of San 
 
 Giovanni . . . .34 
 Berlin Gallery . .■ .63 
 Berni, Giovanni ... 3 
 Bernieri, Antonio, da Cor- 
 
 reggio .... 60, 75 
 Bianchi, Francesco . . 5, 12 
 Birth of the Virgin . . .16 
 Bologna, Coronation of 
 
 Charles V. at . . .68 
 Borgheae Gallery, at Rome . 64 
 Brunorio, Pompeo, marries a 
 
 daughter of Allegri . . 25 
 Buda-Pesth, Gallery at . .29 
 
 Campari, Marchese Cesare . 29 
 
 Capelli, Francesco . . .75 
 
 Caselli, Cristoforo ; . .18 
 
 Carraooi, Agostine . . 31, 87 
 
 Carracoi, Lodovioo . . 31, 87 
 Charles V., Coronation as King 
 
 of Italy . . . .65 
 
 pictures painted for . . 65 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Chiaroscuro, learned in some 
 
 way from Leonardo . . 7 
 Children of Correggio . . 25 
 Christ on the Moimt of Olives . 32 
 Church of San Giovanni, fres- 
 coes in .... 35 
 Cima da Conegliano . . 5 
 Clay figures for frescoes in 
 
 Cathedral . . . .45 
 CoUa, Donna Briseida . . 51 
 Convent of San Paolo . . 18 
 closed to visitors . . .28 
 Coronation of the Virgin . . 37 
 Costa, Lorenzo, probable in- 
 fluence of . . . .7 
 Coypel, Noel, paints fresh 
 heads to the Leda and 
 Danae . . . . . 64 
 
 DanaS 61 
 
 DioMO, retwni/ng from the 
 
 Chase 22 
 
 Doria Gallery, Rome . . 67 
 Dowry of Girolama . . 25 
 Dresden Gallery 12, 48, 53, 55, 56 
 
 Mcee Homo . . . .31 
 
 Ed/Uication of Cupid (or School 
 
 of Love) . . . .61 
 
 EstSj Isabella d' . . .6 
 
 Este, Matilda d' . . . 14 
 
 Federigo II., Duke of Mantua 63 
 Francesco da Grate . . 19 
 
 Gambara, Veronica 
 
 . 8 
 
 letter from . 
 
 . 62 
 
 at Bologna . 
 
 . 63 
 
 Gandini, Giorgio . 
 
 . 
 
INDEX. 
 
 85 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Oanymede 
 
 . 65 
 
 Gatti, Bernardino . 
 
 75 
 
 Giarola, Giovanni . 
 
 . 75 
 
 Giorgio da Erbe 
 
 . 19 
 
 Giorno, II (or the Madonna of 
 
 St. Jerome) . . . .51 
 GioTanna, abbess of San Paolo 19 
 Girolamo da Carpi . . .75 
 Giudotto di Rincop6 . . 16 
 Gonzaga, Francesco . . 6, 9 
 Gonzaga, Isabella . . .67 
 Gonzaga di Novellara . . 65 
 
 Hair, painting of . . .29 
 Hermitage, St. Petersburg 14, 29 
 
 lo and Jwpiter 
 Jv/piter and Antiope 
 
 65 
 
 61 
 
 Leda . . . ... 63 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci, influence 
 
 of 7 
 
 I^odovioo da Parma . . 18 
 Lombardi, Giambattiata . 4 
 
 Louis of Orleans destroys the 
 
 Leda . . . . .64 
 Louvre . . . . 60, 66 
 
 Madonna, formerly in Pitti 
 
 Palace . . . .27 
 
 Madontia della Cesta . . 28 
 Madonna del Goniglio (or Zin- 
 
 garella) . . ■ .28 
 Madonna of St. Francis . . 12 
 Madonna of St. George . . 55 
 Madonna adoring ihe Infant . 27 
 Madonna and Child with St. 
 John the Baptist offering 
 fruit ..... 29 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Madonna of St. Jerome (or II 
 
 Qiorno) . . , .31 
 Madonna with Patron Saints 
 
 of Parma . . . .26 
 Madonna della Scala . . 40 
 Madonna della Scodella . . 50 
 Madonna of St. Sebastian . 48 
 Magdalen . . . .62 
 Man driving two Mules . . 10 
 Manfredo, Count of Correggio. 24 
 Mantegna, Andrea, Influence of 5 
 Mantegna, Francesco . . 6, 9 
 Marastoni, Battista . . 3 
 Mantua, Visit to . . .5 
 Mariani, Vincenzo ... 3 
 Ma/rriage of St. Catherine . 14 
 Ma/rtyrdom of SS. Flacidus 
 
 and Flama . . . .39 
 Mazzola (or Mazzuola) family, 
 Miohele, Pierilario and 
 Pilippo .... IS 
 Mazzola Francesco (Parmi- 
 giano) . . . 41, 71 
 
 Madonna and Child with St. 
 Jerome, in National Gallery 72 
 Madonna del Col lungo . 72 
 Ganymede . . . • . 65 
 Morghen's Charity . . .30 
 
 National Gallery 
 NoU me tangere 
 Notte, La 
 
 29, 31, 33, 60 
 . 27 
 . 53 
 
 Ormani, Francesco, bequeaths 
 property . . . ,24 
 
 Paganino . . . .37 
 Palace built by Count Kiccol6 8 
 
86 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Palace of St. Sebastian 
 
 at 
 
 
 Mantna 
 
 
 6 
 
 Parma, Historical Account 
 
 , 
 
 16 
 
 description . 
 
 , 
 
 17 
 
 besieged . 
 
 
 31 
 
 Cathedral, discontent 
 
 of 
 
 
 chapter 
 
 44 
 
 ,58 
 
 payment for Cathedral 
 
 , 
 
 42 
 
 Academy . . 37, 38, 39, 40, 
 
 41, 
 
 60 
 
 ,51 
 
 Parmigiano . 
 
 
 41 
 
 Piaazola, Bemardina 
 
 
 3 
 
 Pietci .... 
 
 
 38 
 
 Pisano .... 
 
 
 37 
 
 Plague at Correggio 
 
 
 5 
 
 Plague at Modena . 
 
 
 48 
 
 Portrait of a Doctor 
 
 
 10 
 
 Portrait of Allegri, none 
 
 
 genuine 
 
 
 CO 
 
 Pratonero, Alberto . 
 
 
 53 
 
 Pungileoni 
 
 . 
 
 5,8 
 
 Reading Magdalen . 
 
 
 56 
 
 Bepose in Bgypt 
 
 
 13 
 
 Eesta, Storyinventedby (note) 
 
 7 
 
 Kondani, P. M. . 
 
 . 
 
 41 
 
 St. Benedict 
 
 34 
 
 PAGE 
 
 St. John . . . . 4 . 38 
 St. Ma/rtlva, St. Peter and other 
 
 Saints . . ... 14 
 School of Love (or Education 
 
 of Cupid) . . . .60 
 
 Tiraboschi, describes frescoes 
 
 in San Paolo . . .23 
 Tiraboschi relates tradition . 8 
 Titian, visit to Parma . . 44 
 Torlonia, Prince . . .39 
 Trimmph of Virtue . . .66 
 Trivmvph of Virtue repetition . 67 
 
 Vasari . . . . 2, 59, 68 
 Viardot, M., Opinion of . . 31 
 Vice with the Passions . . 66 
 yittoria, Battle of . .33 
 
 Vizarini family ... 5 
 
 Will of Ormani disputed . 24 
 
 Toung Mam on the Movmt of 
 Olives 10 
 
 Zinga/rella, La (or Madonna del 
 
 Ooniglio . . . .28 
 Zuocardi, Lucio, quoted . . 8 
 Zucoardi Qnirino, bequest . 11 
 
 RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, UMITEB, LONDON AND DUNCAV. 
 
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