Lombardy and visited Rome,[1] he would have performed wonders, nay, would have given a dangerous rival to many who, in his day, were called great artists. Be this as it may, his works, being what they are, although he had never seen those of antiquity,[2] nor was even acquainted with the best works of the modern masters; it necessarily follows that if he had studied these works he would have materially improved his own, and, proceeding from good to better, would have attained to the highest summit of excellence. We may, indeed, athrm with certainty that no artist has handled the colours more effectually than himself, nor has any painted v/ith a more charming manner, or given a more perfect relief lO his figures, so exquisite was the softness of the carnations from his hand, so attractive the grace with which he finished his works. In the cathedral of Parma, before mentioned, Antonio painted two large pictures in oil: in one of these among other things is a figure of the Dead Christ, which has been very highly extolled.[3] In the church of San Giovanni, in the same city, he painted a tribune in fresco, and in this work he depicted Our Lady ascending into Heaven, amidst a Multitude of angels, and surrounded by numerous saints.[4] It appears almost impossible that the fancy of man should be capable of conceiving a work such as this is, much more that he should be able to execute it with the hand, so extraordinary is its beauty, so graceful the flow
- ↑ The question whether Correggio did or did not visit Rome has been much contested, but those who maintain that he did not are now in the ascendant. — See Lanzi, ut supra, vol. ii. p. 397, et seq.
- ↑ Antonio may have acquired the rudiments of his art from his paternal uncle, Lorenzo Allegri, and from Antonio Bertolotti, painters of no great account in Correggio, but it is certain that he obtained the most valuable aid afforded to him from Andrea and Francesco Man|jegna, in whose workshops, and in that of Begarelli, of Modena, to which also he had access, he must have found casts and drawings from the antique in sufficient abundance.
- ↑ The second of these pictures represents the martyrdom of San Placido. Both were formerly in the church of San Giovanni, belonging to the Benedictine Monks. They are now in the Pinacoteca of Parma.— Ed. Flor., 1838.
- ↑ In the year 1587, the greater part of these paintings were destroyed, for the purpose of enlarging the choir; but one portion of the work, the group containing the Madonna that is, was preserved, and was placed in the Royal Library.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
