that of the Infant Christ in the lap of the Virgin Mother, and this does truly appear to breathe. The figure of San Pietro Martire also is eminently beautiful. Girolamo likewise copied a small but no less admirable picture by the same master, which belonged to the brotherhood of San Sebastiano, for whom Correggio had painted it.[1] All these works, thus copied by Girolamo, improved his manner to such an extent that it was no longer the same thing, and did not appear to be his own.
From Modena Girolamo proceeded to Parma, where he had heard that there were also works by Correggio, and where he copied certain of the pictures in the apsis of the Cathedral, among them an admirably fore-shortened figure of our Lord ascending into Heaven and surrounded by numerous Angels,[2] while the Apostles are standing beneath in contemplation of that miracle. Girolamo likewise copied the four Saints, protectors of Parma, by whom the niches are occupied; these are San Giovanni Battista, who has a Lamb in his hand; St. Joseph, the Spouse of Our Lady; the Florentine, San Bernardo degli Uberti, who was a cardinal and bishop of Florence; with another saint who was also a bishop.
In the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, moreover, Girolamo studied the figures of the principal chapel, which is in the apsis of that church, these being in like manner by the hand of Correggio, the Coronation of Our Lady namely, with figures of San Giovanni Evangelista, of the Baptist, of San Benedetto, San Placido, and a large number of Angels, who surround the principal group. He likewise copied the admirable figures which are in the chapel of San Joseffo in
- ↑ This picture is not a small, but rather a large one; there is an engraving of it by one of the many engravers Kilian, but whether by Lucas, Wolfgang, or one of their sons, the present writer has not been able to ascertain. This also is in the Dresden Gallery, where it is known as the Madonna di Sebastiano.
- ↑ Vasari here corrects the mistake which he had previously made, of placing this work in the Church of St. John the Baptist; Bottari considers him to have taken the opportunity here offered for speaking of Correggio’s works, partly to the end that he might add certain notices received after the Life of Correggio had been written, and correct some few mistakes into which he had fallen while preparing that biography. See the Roman Edition of Vasari, 1750.
