Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sankar Viswanathan, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
[Illustration: A SUPPOSED PORTRAIT OF CORREGGIO
_Parma Gallery_]
_Masterpieces of Art_
CORREGGIO
A COLLECTION OF FIFTEEN PICTURES
AND A SUPPOSED PORTRAIT OF THE
PAINTER, WITH INTRODUCTION
AND INTERPRETATION
BY
ESTELLE M. HURLL
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
1901
COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
* * * * *
PREFACE
To the general public the works of Correggio are much less familiar
than those of other Italian painters. Parma lies outside the route of
the ordinary tourist, and the treasures of its gallery and churches
are still unsuspected by many. It is hoped that this little collection
of pictures may arouse a new interest in the great Emilian. The
selections are about equally divided between the frescoes of Parma and
the easel paintings scattered through the various European galleries.
ESTELLE M. HURLL.
NEW BEDFORD, MASS.
_December, 1901._
* * * * *
CONTENTS AND LIST OF PICTURES
A SUPPOSED PORTRAIT OF CORREGGIO (_Frontispiece_)
Picture from Photograph of the original painting
INTRODUCTION
I. ON CORREGGIO'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST
II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE
III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE PICTURES OF THIS COLLECTION
IV. OUTLINE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN CORREGGIO'S LIFE
V. LIST OF CONTEMPORARY PAINTERS
I. THE HOLY NIGHT (DETAIL)
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co.
II. _St. Catherine Reading_
Picture from Photograph by Francis Ellis and W. Hayward, London
III. THE MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co.
IV. CEILING DECORATION IN THE SALA DEL PERGOLATO (HALL OF THE VINE
TRELLIS)
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari
V. DIANA
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari
VI. ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari
VII. ST. JOHN AND ST. AUGUSTINE
Picture from Photograph by D. Anderson
VIII. ST. MATTHEW AND ST. JEROME
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari of the painting in
water color by P. Toschi
IX. THE REST ON THE RETURN FROM EGYPT (MADONNA DELLA SCODELLA)
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari
X. ECCE HOMO
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co.
XI. APOSTLES AND GENII
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari of the painting in
water color by P. Toschi
XII. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari of the painting
in water color by P. Toschi
XIII. CHRIST APPEARING TO MARY MAGDALENE IN THE GARDEN (NOLI ME TANGERE)
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co.
XIV. THE MADONNA OF ST. JEROME
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Clement & Co.
XV. CUPID SHARPENING HIS ARROWS (DETAIL OF DANAE)
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari
XVI. A SUPPOSED PORTRAIT OF CORREGGIO
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES AND FOREIGN WORDS
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION
I. ON CORREGGIO'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST.
The art of Correggio was very justly summed up by his first
biographer, Vasari. After pointing out that in the matter of drawing
and composition the artist would scarcely have won a reputation, the
writer goes on to say: "To Correggio belongs the great praise of
having attained the highest point of perfection in coloring, whether
his works were executed in oil or in fresco." In another place he
writes, "No artist has handled the colors more effectually than
himself, nor has any painted with a more charming manner or given a
more perfect relief to his figures." Color and chiaroscuro were
undoubtedly, as Vasari indicates, the two features of his art in which
Correggio achieved his highest triumphs, and if some others had
equalled or even surpassed him in the first point, none before him had
ever solved so completely the problems of light and shadow.
Not only did he understand how to throw the separate figures of the
picture into relief, giving them actual bodily existence, but he
mastered as well the disposition of light and shade in the whole
composition. To quote Burckhardt, "In Correggio first, chiaroscuro
becomes essential to the general expression of a pictorially combined
whole; the stream of lights and reflections gives exactly the right
expression to the special moment in nature."
The quality of Correggio's artistic temperament was essentially
joyous.[1] The beings of his creation delight in life and movement;
their faces are wreathed with perpetual smiles. Hence childhood and
youth were the painter's favorite subjects. The subtleties of
character study did not interest him; and for this reason he failed in
representing old age. He was perhaps at his best among that race of
sprites which his own imagination invented, creatures without a sense
of responsibility, glad merely to be alive.
[Footnote 1: Tradition says that the temperament of the man himself
was exactly the reverse of that of the artist, being timid and
melancholy.]
This temperament explains why the artist contented himself with so
little variety in his types. We need not wonder at the monotony of the
Madonna's face. She is happy, and this is all the painter required of
her psychically. He took no thought even to make her beautiful: the
tribute he offered her was the technical excellence of his art,--the
exquisite color with which he painted flesh and drapery, the
modulations of light playing over cheek and neck. With hair and hands
he took especial pains, and these features often redeem otherwise
unattractive figures.
In his predilection for happy subjects Correggio reminds us of
Raphael. The two men shrank equally from the painful. But where the
Umbrian's ideal of happiness was tranquil and serene, Correggio's was
exuberant and ecstatic. Raphael indeed was almost Greek in his sense
of repose, while Correggio had a passion for motion. "He divines,
knows and paints the finest movements of nervous life," says
Burckhardt.
Even when he sought to portray a figure in stable equilibrium, he
unwittingly gave it a wavering pose; witness the insecurity of Joseph
in the Madonna della Scodella, and of St. Jerome in the Madonna
bearing his name. Usually he preferred some momentary attitude caught
in the midst of action. In this characteristic the painter was allied
to Michelangelo, the keynote of whose art is action.
It is a curious fact that two artists of such opposed natures--the one
so light-hearted, the other burdened with the prophet's spirit--should
have so much in common in their decorative methods. Both understood
the decorative value of the nude, and found their supreme delight in
bodily motion. In a common zeal for exploiting the manifold
possibilities of the human figure, the two fell into similar errors of
exaggeration. In point of design Correggio cannot be compared with
Michelangelo. He was utterly incapable of the sweeping lines
characteristic of the great Florentine. He seldom achieved any success
in the flow of drapery, and often his disposition of folds is very
clumsy.
It is interesting to fancy what Correggio's art might have been had he
been free to choose his own subjects. Limited, as he was, in his most
important commissions, to the well-worn cycle of ecclesiastical
themes, he could not work out all the possibilities of his genius.
Nevertheless, he infused into the old themes an altogether new spirit,
the spirit of his own individuality. It is a spirit which we call
distinctly modern, yet it is as old as paganism.
Among the works of the old Italian masters, Correggio's art is so
anomalous that it has inevitably called forth detractors. What to his
admirers is mere childlike sweetness is condemned as "sentimentality,"
innocent playfulness as "frivolity," exuberance of vitality as
"sensuality." Certainly there is nothing didactic in his art. "Space
and light and motion were what Antonio Allegri of Correggio most
longed to express,"[2] and to these aims he subordinated all motives
of spiritual significance. One of his severest critics (Burckhardt)
has conceded that "he is the first to represent entirely and
completely the reality of genuine nature." He, then, who is a lover of
genuine nature in her most subtle beauties of "space and light and
motion," cannot fail to delight in Correggio.
[Footnote 2: E. H. Blashfield in Italian Cities.]
II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE.
The first biographer of Correggio was Vasari, in whose "Lives of the
Painters, Sculptors, and Architects" is included a brief account of
this painter. The student should read this work in the last edition
annotated by E. H. and E. W. Blashfield and A. A. Hopkins. Passing
over the studies of the intervening critics, Julius Meyer's biography
may be mentioned next, as an authoritative work, practically alone in
the field for some twenty-five years. This was translated from the
German by M. C. Heaton, and published in London in 1876. Finally, the
recent biography by Signor Corrado Ricci (translated from the Italian
by Florence Simmonds, and published in 1896) may be considered almost
definitive. It is issued in a single large volume, profusely
illustrated. The author is the director of the galleries of Parma, and
has had every opportunity for the study of Correggio's works and the
examination of documents bearing upon his life.
General handbooks of Italian art giving sketches of Correggio's life
and work are Kugler's "Handbook of the Italian Schools," revised by A.
H. Layard, and Mrs. Jameson's "Early Italian Painters," revised by
Estelle M. Hurll.
For a critical estimate of the art of Correggio a chapter in
Burckhardt's "Cicerone" is interesting reading, but the book is out of
print and available only in large libraries. In "Italian Cities," by
E. H. and E. W. Blashfield, a delightful chapter on Parma describes
Correggio's works and analyzes his art methods. Morelli's "Italian
Painters" contains in various places some exceedingly important
contributions to the criticism of Correggio's works. The author's
repudiation of the authenticity of the Reading Magdalen of the Dresden
Gallery has been accepted by all subsequent writers.
Comments on Correggio are found in Symonds's volume on "The Fine Arts"
in the series "The Renaissance in Italy," and are also scattered
through the pages of Ruskin's "Modern Painters" and Hazlitt's "Essays
on the Fine Arts." The volume on Correggio in the series "Great
Masters in Painting and Sculpture" is valuable chiefly for a complete
list of Correggio's works. The text is based on Ricci.[3]
[Footnote 3: As this book goes to press Bernard Berenson's "The Study
and Criticism of Italian Art" makes its appearance. A portion of it is
devoted to the study of Correggio.]
III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE PICTURES OF THIS COLLECTION.
_Portrait frontispiece._ From a photograph of an alleged portrait of
Correggio in the Parma Gallery.
1. _The Holy Night._(_La Notte._) (Detail.) Painted at the order of
Alberto Pratoneri for the altar of his chapel in the church of S.
Prospero, Reggio. Agreement signed October 10, 1522. Stolen from the
church May, 1640, and taken to Modena. Now in the Dresden Gallery.
Size of whole picture: 8 ft. 5 in. by 6 ft. 2 in.
2. _St. Catherine Reading._ Conjectural date, 1526-1528. In Hampton
Court Gallery. Size: 2 ft. 1 in. by 1 ft. 8 in.
3. _The Marriage of St. Catherine._ Date, according to Meyer,
1517-1519; according to Ricci, after 1522. Painted for the Grillenzoni
family of Modena. After several transfers it came into the possession
of Cardinal Mazarin, from whose heirs it was acquired for Louis XIV.'s
collection and hence became a permanent possession of the Louvre
Gallery, Paris. Size: 3 ft. 5-1/3 in. by 3 ft. 4 in.
4 and 5. _Ceiling Decoration_, and _Diana_, in the Sala del Pergolata,
Convent of S. Paolo, Parma. Frescoes painted in 1518.
6, 7, and 8. _St. John the Evangelist_, _St. John and St. Augustine_,
_St. Mark and St. Jerome_. Frescoes in the church of S. Giovanni
Evangelista, Parma. Painted 1520-1525.
9. _The Rest on the Return from Egypt._ (_La Madonna della Scodella._)
According to Pungileoni painted 1527-1528; according to Ricci,
1529-1530. The frame containing the picture is supposed to have been
designed by Correggio himself. It bears the date 1530, when the
picture was placed in the church of S. Sepolcro, Parma. Taken as
French booty in 1796, but returned to Parma in 1816. Now in the Parma
Gallery. Size: 7 ft. 3 in. by 4 ft. 6 in.
10. _Ecce Homo._ According to Ricci, painted during a visit to
Correggio, 1521-1522; probably first belonged to the Counts Prati, of
Parma. In the seventeenth century there were three pictures of the
subject in Italy claiming to be the original. This picture was
formerly in the Colonna family; now in the National Gallery, London.
Size: 3 ft. 2-1/2 in. by 2 ft. 7-1/2 in.
11 and 12. _Apostles and Genii_, and _St. John the Baptist_. Frescoes
in the Cathedral of Parma. Painted 1524-1530.
13. _Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene in the Garden._ (_Noli me
tangere._) Assigned by Ricci to 1524-1526. Described by Vasari as the
property of the Ercolani family of Bologna. Passing from one owner to
another, it was finally presented to Philip IV. of Spain, and is now
in the Prado Gallery, Madrid. Size: 1 ft. 3-1/3 in. by 1 ft. 6-1/2
in.
14. _The Madonna of St. Jerome._ (_Il Giorno._) Ordered in 1523 by
Donna Briseide Colla, for the church of S. Antonio, Parma. Painted
1527-1528, according to Ricci. After the destruction of this church it
was placed in the Cathedral for safety. Seized by Napoleon in 1796.
Finally returned to Parma, and now in the Parma Gallery. Size: 4 ft. 8
in. by 6 ft. 10 in.
15. _Cupid sharpening his Arrow._ (Detail of _Danae_.) Ordered
(1530-1533) by Federigo II., Duke of Mantua, as a gift for the Emperor
Charles V. After passing through many hands it came in 1823 into the
possession of the Borghese family, and is now in the Borghese Gallery,
Rome. Size of whole picture, 5 ft. 4 in. by 6 ft. 5 in.
IV. OUTLINE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN CORREGGIO'S LIFE.
_Compiled from Ricci's_ Correggio, _to which the references to pages
apply_.
1494. Antonio Allegri born at Correggio.
1511-1513. Probably in Mantua (p. 69).
1515. Madonna of St. Francis (p. 94).
1518. In Parma executing the frescoes of San Paolo, April-December (p.
152).
1520. Invitation to Parma from the Benedictines (p. 153). Marriage
with Girolama Merlini (p. 185).
1520-1525. At work on frescoes of S. Giovanni Evangelista, Parma, with
interruptions as noted below (pp. 189-195).
July, 1521-Spring, 1522. In Correggio (pp. 194, 195), and probable
execution of the Ecce Homo, Christ in Garden, and Noli me tangere (p.
226).
1521. Birth of son Pomponio, September 3 (p. 185).
1522. Visit to Reggio and commission for the Nativity (La Notte)
October (pp. 195, 294). Commission for frescoes of Parma Cathedral,
November (p. 250).
1523. Visit in Correggio (p. 195). Order for Madonna of St. Jerome (p.
278).
1524. Last payment for frescoes of S. Giovanni (p. 190). Birth of
daughter Francesca Letizia, December 6 (p. 185).
1524-1530. Work on frescoes of the Parma Cathedral, interrupted by
visits to Correggio, as noted below (p. 273).
1525. Visits to Correggio in February and August (p. 274). Madonna of
St. Sebastian painted for Confraternity of St. Sebastian at Modena (p.
275).
1526. Birth of daughter Caterina Lucrezia (p. 185).
1527. Visits in Correggio (p. 274).
Circa 1528. Birth of daughter Anna Geria (p. 185).
1528. Visit in Correggio in summer (p. 274).
1529. Death of wife (p. 185).
1530-1534. In Correggio (p. 307). Mythological pictures for Federigo
Gonzaga (p. 311).
1534. Death of Allegri, March 5 (p. 326).
V. LIST OF CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
Vincenzo Catena, Venetian, 1470-1532.
Michelangelo, Florentine, 1475-1564.
Lorenzo Lotto, Venetian, circa 1476-1555.
Bazzi (Il Sodoma), Sienese, 1477-1549.
Giorgione, Venetian, 1477-1510.
Titian, Venetian, 1477-1576.
Palma Vecchio, Venetian, 1480-1528.
Lotto, Venetian, 1480-1558.
Raphael, Umbrian, 1483-1520.
Pordenone, Venetian, 1484-1539.
Bagnacavallo, Bolognese, 1484-1542.
Gaudenzio Ferrari, Milanese, 1484-1549.
Sebastian del Piombo, Venetian, 1485-1547.
Andrea del Sarto, Florentine, 1486-1531.
Bonifazio Veneziano, Venetian, circa 1490-1540.
Cima da Conegliano, Venetian, 1493-1517.
Pontormo, Florentine, 1493-1558.
Moretto, Brescian, 1500-1547.
Bronzino, Florentine, 1502-1572.
Basaiti, Venetian, first record, 1503-last record, 1520.
I
THE HOLY NIGHT (LA NOTTE) (Detail)
In the northern part of Italy is the little town of Correggio, which
gave its name to the painter whose works we are to study. His real
name was Antonio Allegri, but in the sixteenth century a man would
often be called by a nickname referring to some peculiarity, or to his
birthplace. When Allegri went to Parma he was known as Antonio da
Correggio, that is, Antonio from Correggio, and the name was then
shortened to Correggio.
A large part of Correggio's work was mural decoration, painted on the
surface of the plastered wall. Besides such frescoes he painted many
separate pictures, mostly of sacred subjects to be hung over the
altars of churches. The choice of subjects was much more limited in
his day than now, and, with the exception of a few mythological
paintings, all Correggio's themes were religious. The subject most
often called for was that of the Madonna and Child. Madonna is the
word, meaning literally My Lady, used by the Italians when speaking of
Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Madonna and Child is then a picture of
the mother Mary holding the Christ-child.
Our illustration is from such a picture called "La Notte," the Italian
for The Night. The night meant by the title is that on which Jesus was
born in Bethlehem of Judaea. It was at a time known in history as the
Augustan Age, when Rome was the great world-power. Judaea was only an
obscure province of the vast Roman Empire, but here was the origin of
the influence which was to shape later history. The coming of Jesus
brought a new force into the world.
The story of his infancy has been made familiar by the four
Evangelists. He was born in surroundings which, in Roman eyes, were
fit only for slaves. Mary and Joseph had come up from their own home
to Bethlehem to pay the taxes exacted at Rome. The town was full of
people on the same errand, and "there was no room for them in the
inn." So it came about that the new-born babe was wrapped in swaddling
clothes and laid in a manger used for feeding cattle.
While he lay in this strange cradle his birth was made known by a
vision of angels to some shepherds on the neighboring hillsides. At
once they betook themselves joyfully to Bethlehem, the first to do
honor to the new-born king. These homely visitors are gathered about
the manger in Correggio's picture. The dark night is without, but a
dazzling white light shines from the Holy Child.
[Illustration: THE HOLY NIGHT (DETAIL)
_Dresden Gallery_]
Our illustration shows only the centre of the picture, where the
mother leans over her babe. The little form lies on a bundle of hay,
completely encircled by her arms. The bend of her elbow makes a
soft pillow for his head; her hands hold him fast in the snug nest.
With brooding tenderness she regards the sleeping child.
A white cloth is wrapped loosely about the baby's body--the swaddling
band, which, when tightly drawn, is to hold the figure straight. The
fingers of one hand peep out from the folds, and one little foot is
free. For the rest we see only the downy top of the baby's head and
one plump shoulder. The little figure glows lite an incandescent body,
and the mother's face is lighted as if she were bending over a fire.
It is a girlish face, for we are told that Mary was a very young
mother. The cares of life have not yet touched the smooth brow. In her
happiness she smiles fondly upon her new treasure.
We have no authentic description of Mary, the mother of Jesus, but it
is pleasant to try to picture her in imagination. As her character was
a model of womanliness, it is natural to believe her face
correspondingly beautiful. The old masters spent their lives in
seeking an ideal worthy of the subject, and each one conceived her
according to his own standards of beauty. Correggio's chief care was
for the hair and hands, which he painted, as we see here, with
exquisite skill. He was usually less interested in the other features,
and the Madonna of our picture is exceptionally lovely among his works
of this kind.
The picture of La Notte illustrates very strikingly an artistic
quality for which Correggio is famous. This is _chiaroscuro_, or the
art of light and shadow,--the art by which the objects and figures of
a picture are made to seem enveloped in light and air, as in the
actual world. The contrast between the bright light in the centre and
the surrounding darkness gives vivid reality to the figures. There is
also a symbolic meaning in the lighting of the picture. Christ is "the
light of the world;" hence his form is the source of illumination.
Our picture was originally called by the simple title of The Nativity.
Then the Italians, struck by the power with which the effect of
midnight was produced, called it "La Notte," The Night. When it came
to a German gallery the Germans called it "Die Heilige Nacht," The
Holy Night. An old German Christmas carol interprets it so perfectly
that it seems as if the author must have known the picture. These are
the verses:--
"Silent night! Holy Night!
All is calm, all is bright
Round you, virgin mother and child;
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
"Silent Night! Holy Night!
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from Heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing alleluia.
Christ the Saviour is born!
Christ the Saviour is born!
"Silent Night! Holy Night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth."
II
ST. CATHERINE READING
The story of St. Catherine is very quaintly told in the old legend.[4]
She was the daughter of "a noble and prudent king," named Costus, "who
reigned in Cyprus at the beginning of the third century," and "had to
his wife a queen like to himself in virtuous governance." Though good
people according to their light, they were pagans and worshippers of
idols.
[Footnote 4: The life of St. Catherine is related in the _Golden
Legend._ See Caxton's translation in the _Temple Classics_, volume
vii., page 1. Mrs. Jameson also gives an outline of the story in
_Sacred and Legendary Art_, p. 459.]
Even in her babyhood the child Catherine was "so fair of visage" that
all the people rejoiced at her beauty. At seven years of age she was
sent to school, where "she drank plenteously of the well of wisdom."
Her father was so delighted with her precocity that he had built a
tower containing divers chambers where she might pursue her studies.
Seven masters were engaged to teach her, the best and "wisest in
conning" that could be found. So rapid was their pupil's progress that
she soon outstripped them in knowledge, and from being her masters
they became her disciples.
When the princess was fourteen, her father died, leaving her heir to
his kingdom. A parliament was convened, and the young queen was
crowned with great solemnity. Then arose a committee of lords and
commons, petitioning her to allow them to seek some noble knight or
prince to marry her and defend the kingdom. Now Catherine had secretly
resolved not to marry, but she answered with a wisdom not learned
altogether from books. She agreed to marry if they would bring her a
bridegroom possessing certain qualifications which she knew were
impossible to fulfil. This silenced the counsellors, and she continued
to reign alone.
In the course of time Queen Catherine became a Christian and devoted
herself to works of religion and charity. Under her teaching many of
her people were converted to the faith. It was a happy kingdom until
the Emperor Maxentius chanced to visit the royal city. He was a tyrant
who persecuted Christians. Upon his arrival he ordered public
sacrifices to idols, and all who would not join in the heathen
ceremony were slain. Then Catherine went boldly to meet the emperor
and set forth to him the errors of paganism. Though confounded by her
eloquence he was not to be convinced by the words of a mere woman.
Accordingly he summoned from divers provinces fifty masters "which
surmounted all mortal men in worldly wisdom." They were to hold a
discussion with the queen and put her to confusion. For all their
arguments, however, Catherine had an answer. So complete was her
victory that the entire company declared themselves Christians. The
angry emperor caused them all to be burned and cast Catherine into
prison.
[Illustration: ST. CATHERINE READING
_Hampton Court Gallery, London_]
Even here she continued her good works, converting the empress and a
prince who came to visit her. A new torment was then devised for her.
Iron wheels were made, bound with sharp razors, and she was placed
between these while they were turned in opposite directions. "And anon
as this blessed virgin was set in this torment, the angel of the Lord
brake the wheels by so great force that it slew four thousand
paynims." Maxentius then commanded that she should be beheaded, and
St. Catherine went cheerfully to her death.
Other virgin martyrs may have been as good and as beautiful as St.
Catherine, but none were so wise. We know her in our picture by the
book she holds. Eager to acquire all the treasures of knowledge, she
fixes her eyes on the page, absorbed in her occupation. Already she
has read more than half the thick volume, smiling with quiet enjoyment
as she reads. There is little in the face to suggest the scholar or
the bookworm. Were this a modern picture, we should fancy it a young
lady reading her favorite poet. As it is, however, we must believe
that the book is some work by Plato or another of the ancient writers
whom St. Catherine could quote so readily. We need not wonder that she
does not knit her brow over any difficult passages. What might be hard
for another to grasp is perfectly clear to her understanding.
The beautiful hair coiled over her head is the only coronet the
princess wears. There is no sign of her royalty, and we may infer that
the picture represents her in those early days of girlhood before the
cares of government were laid on the young shoulders. As we study the
position of the figure we see that the left arm rests on the rim of a
wheel, making a support for the hand holding the book. The wheel is
the emblem most frequently associated with St. Catherine, as the
reminder of the tortures inflicted by Maxentius. The palm branch
caught in the fingers of the left hand is the symbol used alike for
all the martyrs. The reference is to that passage in the book of
Revelation which describes the saints standing before the throne "with
palms in their hands."[5]
[Footnote 5: Revelation vii. 9.]
It is pleasant to believe that Correggio took unusual pains with this
picture of St. Catherine. The story of the lovely young princess seems
to have appealed to his imagination, and he has conceived an ideal
figure for her character. The exquisite oval of the face, the delicate
features, and the beautiful hair make this one of the most attractive
faces in his works.
The light falls over the right shoulder, casting one side of the face
in shadow. The modulations of light on the chin and neck, and the
gradation in the shadow cast by the book on the hand, show Correggio's
mastery of chiaroscuro.
III
THE MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE
At the time of her coronation, St. Catherine knew nothing of the
Christian faith, but she had set for herself an ideal of life she was
determined to carry out. It was her firm resolve not to marry. Her
counsellors argued that, as she was endowed with certain qualities
above all creatures, she ought to marry and transmit these gifts to
posterity. The attributes they enumerated were, first, that she came
of the most noble blood in the world; second, that she was the richest
living heiress; third, that she was the wisest, and, fourth, the most
beautiful of all human beings.
The young queen replied that she would marry only one who possessed
corresponding qualities. "He must be," she said, "so noble that all
men shall do him worship," so rich that "he pass all others in
riches," so full of beauty "that angels have joy to behold him;" and
finally, he must be absolutely pure in character, "so meek that he can
gladly forgive all offences." "If ye can find such an one," she
declared, "I will be his wife with all mine heart, if he will
vouchsafe to have me."
Of course all agreed that there never was and never would be a man
such as she described, and the matter was at an end. To Catherine,
however, there came a strange conviction that her ideal was not an
impossible one. All her mind and heart were filled with the image of
the perfect husband she had conceived. She continually mused how she
might find him.
While she thought on these things, an old hermit came to her one day
saying that he had had a vision, and had been sent with the message
that her chosen bridegroom awaited her. Catherine at once arose and
followed the hermit into the desert. Here it was revealed to her that
the perfect man she had dreamed of was Jesus, the Christ, and to this
heavenly bridegroom she was united in mystic marriage. Returning to
her palace she wore a marriage ring, as the perpetual token of this
spiritual union.
The story explains the subject of our picture. The Christ-child,
seated on his mother's knee, is about to place a ring on St.
Catherine's finger, while St. Sebastian looks on as a wedding guest.
The infant bridegroom performs his part with delight. He holds the
precious circlet between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand,
and with his left singles out St. Catherine's ring finger. The bride's
hand rests on the mother's open palm, held beneath as a support.
[Illustration: THE MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE
_The Louvre, Paris_]
All are watching the child's motions intently; the mother with quiet
pleasure, St. Sebastian with boyish curiosity, and St. Catherine
herself with sweet seriousness. Any comparison of the scene with a
human marriage is set aside by the fact that the bridegroom is an
infant. The ceremony is of purely spiritual significance, a true
sacrament. St. Catherine's expression and manner are full of humility,
as in a religious service.
The Christ-child is a robust little fellow whose chief beauty is his
curls. He has the large head which usually shows an active
temperament, and we fancy that he is somewhat masterful in his ways.
We shall see the same boy again in the picture called The Madonna of
St. Jerome.
The mother, too, has a face which soon becomes familiar to the student
of Correggio's works. The eyes are full, the nose is rather prominent,
the mouth large and smiling, and the chin small. Even St. Catherine is
of the same type, except that her face is cast in a smaller and more
delicate mould. Her hair is arranged precisely like that of the
Madonna, the braids bound about the head, preserving the pretty round
contour. Both women wear dresses cut with round low necks, showing
their full throats. St. Catherine's left hand rests upon a wheel with
spiked rim, which, as we have seen, is her usual emblem. Another
emblem is the sword, whose hilt projects from behind the wheel. This
was the instrument of her execution.
Special prominence is given in the picture to three sets of hands. The
skill with which they are painted is noted by critics as one of the
many artistic merits of the work. One of Browning's poems[6] describes
an artist's meditations while trying to draw a hand. His failure
teaches him to realize that he must study the
"Flesh and bone and nerve that make
The poorest coarsest human hand
An object worthy to be scanned
A whole life long for their sole sake."
Such must have been Correggio's study to enable him to produce the
beautiful hands we see here.
[Footnote 6: _Beside the Drawing Board._]
St. Sebastian is a figure not to be overlooked. We may find his like
among the genii of the Parma Cathedral, which we are to study. He is a
joyous being to whom it is good merely to be alive. The elfin locks
falling about his face make him look like some creature of the woods.
We are reminded most of the faun of the Greek mythology. The arrows in
his hand suggest some sylvan sport, but in reality they are the emblem
of his martyrdom. According to tradition the young saint was bound by
his enemies to a tree, and shot with arrows.
Behind the group stretches a bit of open country, and if we look
closely we can discern here two groups of small figures. One
represents the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, and the other, the
execution of St. Catherine. We may suppose that such gruesome subjects
were not the choice of the painter. It is probable that they were
dictated by his patrons, and in obeying orders he made the figures as
inconspicuous as possible.
IV
CEILING DECORATION IN THE SALA DEL PERGOLATO
(HALL OF THE VINE TRELLIS)
(S. Paolo, Parma)
In the time of Correggio the convent of S. Paolo (St. Paul) in Parma
was in charge of the abbess Giovanna da Piacenza, who had succeeded an
aunt in this office in 1507. She was a woman of liberal opinions, who
did not let the duties of her position entirely absorb her. She still
retained some social connections and was a patroness of art and
culture. The daughter of a nobleman, she was a person of consequence,
whose private apartments were such as a princess might have. Already a
well known painter of the day had decorated one of her rooms when she
heard of the rising artist Correggio. Probably advised by her relative
the Cavaliere Scipione Montino, she commissioned the young painter to
fresco a second room.
The decorative scheme he designed is very beautiful and elaborate. The
square ceiling is completely covered with a simulated trellis,
embowered in foliage and flowers, and pierced by oval windows through
which children are seen at play. A circle in the centre contains the
family arms of the abbess, a shield on which three crescent moons are
set diagonally. From this centre, as from the hub of a wheel, a
series of gilded ribs radiate towards the sides, cutting the whole
space into triangular sections whose surfaces are slightly hollowed.
The oval windows of the trellis open in these sections, one in each
triangle, and sixteen in all. Above every window hangs a bunch of
fruit, seemingly suspended from the centre by ribbons fancifully
braided about the ribs. The outer edge of the design, where the
ceiling joins the walls, is finished by a series of sixteen lunettes
or semicircles running around the square, one in each section. The
frieze around the side walls simulates a narrow scarf caught up in
festoons between ornamented capitals formed of rams' heads. The
remaining decoration of the room is on the cap of the chimney, and
represents the goddess Diana setting forth for the chase.
This picture furnishes the subject of the children's games in the
lattice bower. The little sprites are attendants of the goddess,
playing in a mimic hunt. Two or three may be seen through every
window, busy and happy in their innocent sport. One is the delighted
possessor of a quiver of arrows, from which he draws a shaft. Others
play with the hounds, pulling them hither and thither at their will. A
group of five find the hunting-horn an amusing plaything, and
good-humoredly strive together over the treasure.
[Illustration: CEILING DECORATION IN THE SALA DEL PERGOLATO
_Convent of S. Paolo, Parma_]
Our illustration shows a quarter section of the ceiling, from which we
can in imagination reconstruct the whole diagram.[7] Let us see
what the children are doing in this corner of the lattice. At the
window directly in front of us a little fellow proudly exhibits a
stag's head as a trophy of the chase. Just behind his shoulder a merry
companion, peeps out, and lower down, on the other side, appears the
head of an animal like a doe. In the next window is a boy with a
wreath of flowers with which he and a companion apparently mean to
crown the head of the stag. The third boy of the group has for the
moment lost interest in the play, his attention being attracted by
something going on outside. Now comes a boy passing by the next
window, who hastens to join the party we have just seen. His
playfellow wants to go the other way, and tries to detain him. "Come,"
he says, seizing him by the arm, "there's no fun over there. See what
I have found."
[Footnote 7: A quarter section, mathematically exact, is of course,
square in shape. In our illustration the lower part of two lunettes is
cut off.]
We are somewhat at a loss to know just what mischief the baby in the
next window has been plotting. He grasps with both hands a tall staff,
which may be a hunting-spear, or perhaps a pole with which he hopes to
reach the fruit. In some way he has managed to get both feet through
the window, and is now in a precarious position, half in and half out.
His companion tries to draw him in; but whether he is alarmed at the
danger, or is himself eager to get the pole, we cannot tell.
The lunettes of the ceiling are painted in gray, framed in borders of
sea-shells. They are made to simulate niches containing sculptured
figures with some allegorical or mythological meaning. In our
illustration we see first the figure of Chastity, holding in her right
hand the dove, which is the emblem of innocence. The dress is the
long, plain tunic seen in Greek sculpture, and the thin stuff of which
it is made flows in graceful lines about the form. We are reminded of
Milton's lines in "Comus:"--
"So dear to Heav'n is saintly Chastity,
That when a soul is found sincerely so,
A thousand liveried angels lacky her,
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt,
And in clear dream and solemn vision,
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear."
The next figure is similar in character and meaning. It is Virginity,
holding in her right hand the lily, which is the symbol of purity. The
other two figures, of which we see only the upper portion, are
Fortune, with a cornucopia, and the helmeted Athena, with spear and
torch.
At the death of the abbess Giovanna in 1574, the convent of S. Paolo
entered upon a period of severe ecclesiastical discipline. For more
than two centuries it was impossible for outsiders to gain admittance,
and the "Sala del Pergolato" was a sealed treasure. Finally, in 1794,
the Academy of Parma gained permission to examine Correggio's
paintings. After the suppression of the convent the room was thrown
open to the public, and the building is now used for a school.
V
DIANA
In classic mythology, Diana, the Greek Artemis, was the goddess of the
moon, twin sister of the sun-god Apollo. As the rays of moonlight seem
to pierce the air like arrows, Diana, like Apollo, was said to carry a
quiver of darts; the slender arc of the crescent moon was her bow.
Thence it was natural to consider her fond of hunting, and she became
the special patroness of the chase and other sylvan sports. Her
favorite haunts were groves and lakes, and she blessed the increase of
field and meadow. She was mistress of the brute creation, and showed
special favor to the bear, the boar, the dog, the goat, and the hind.
The poet Wordsworth has described how the ancient huntsman regarded
the goddess:--
"The nightly hunter lifting up his eyes
Towards the crescent moon, with grateful heart
Called on the lovely wanderer who bestowed
That timely light to share his joyous sport;
And hence a beaming goddess with her nymphs
Across the lawn and through the darksome grove
(Not unaccompanied with tuneful notes
By echo multiplied from rock or cave)
Swept in the storm of chase, as moon and stars
Glance rapidly along the clouded heaven
When winds are blowing."[8]
[Footnote 8: In _The Excursion._]
There were other pleasant beliefs about Diana such as might be
connected with the thought of the moon. As the moonlight cheers the
traveller on his way and enters the chamber of the sick and lonely, so
Diana was said to watch with the sick and help the unfortunate. The
pale, white light of the moon is a natural symbol of purity, hence
Diana was a maiden goddess above all allurements of love. Her worship
was conducted with splendid rites in various ancient cities. The
temple built in her honor at Ephesus was famous as one of the seven
wonders of the world.
The ancients naturally liked to fancy the goddess very beautiful. The
Greek poet Anacreon called her "the goddess of the sun bright hair."
The English Keats, who delighted in the old Greek myths, has also
described the charms of "the haunter chaste of river sides, and woods
and heathy waste."[9] She had "pearl round ears, white neck, orbed
brow, blush tinted cheeks," and "a paradise of lips and eyes."
[Footnote 9: In _Endymion_. See also Lowell's _Endymion_ for a
description of Diana.]
In our picture the moon goddess is mounting her car for the nightly
course across the sky.[10] Though she seems to be but just springing
to her place, with bending knee, she is already speeding on her way.
[Footnote 10: As Apollo drives the sun chariot across the sky by day.
Compare Guido Reni's Aurora.]
"How tremulous-dazzlingly the wheels sweep
Around their axle."
Her quiver, well filled with the bow and arrows, hangs at her back,
held by the strap bound over her breast.[11] The crescent moon gleams
above her brow. The vehicle is the small two-wheeled chariot used
among the Romans, scarcely larger than a chair. Only the hind legs of
the steeds may be seen, but we fancy them to be two white does.
[Footnote 11: It seems odd that with this full quiver the subject
should be called by some "Diana's Return from the Chase."]
[Illustration: DIANA
_Convent of S. Paolo, Parma_]
The huntress turns her face earthward, lifting a fluttering veil high
in her left hand. It is as if the face of the moon had been hidden
behind a cloud which the goddess suddenly draws aside and shows "her
fulgent head uncovered, dazzling the beholder's sight." It is with a
bright, cheerful countenance that she beams upon her worshippers. A
sense of courage and exhilaration is expressed in her spirited
bearing. With her right hand she points forward, as if calling us to
join in the sport. In the swiftness of her motion her unbound hair and
filmy garments blow out behind her.
She is a country-bred maiden, with plump neck and round arms, and her
chief charm is her buoyant vitality. Her open face, with eyes set
rather far apart, is the index of her nature. Her free life in the
woods has developed a well poised womanhood. Fear is unknown to her;
pain and disease come not near her. Rejoicing in immortal youth and
strength, she speeds nightly through the sky, the messenger of light
and comfort.
As we have seen in the preceding chapter, the picture of Diana is
painted in fresco on the chimney cap, or hood, over the great
fireplace in the Hall of the Vine Trellis. We may well believe that
the decoration went far towards furnishing the stately apartment.
Underneath runs the Latin inscription, "_Ignem gladio ne fodias_,"
stir not the fire with the sword.
It will be remembered that the arms of the abbess, for whom the room
was decorated, bore the device of the crescent moon. This fact may
have suggested to Correggio, or his patrons, the subject of the moon
goddess. Diana, as a virgin divinity, was an especially appropriate
choice for the apartment of a nun.
The legends of Greek mythology were at that time very popular among
people of culture, having been recently brought to notice in the
revival of classic learning. In Italy they furnished themes for the
painter; in England, for the poet. The English Ben Jonson, living a
half a century later than Correggio,[12] but representing in a certain
measure the same love of classic allusion, wrote a "Hymn to Diana,"
which might have been inspired by this picture. The first stanza may
be quoted for its interpretation:--
"Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,
Now the sun is laid to sleep,
Seated in thy silver chair,
State in wonted manner keep.
Hesperus entreats thy light,
Goddess excellently bright."
[Footnote 12: That is, from 1573 to 1637.]
VI
ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
It seemed understood among the twelve disciples of Jesus that John was
the one of their number especially beloved by the Master. He and his
brother, James, were the sons of the fisherman Zebedee, and all three
men earned their living in their fishing-boats on the sea of Galilee.
It was while they were busy with their nets that Jesus one day called
the two brothers to be fishers of men. "And they straightway left
their nets and followed him."[13]
[Footnote 13: St. Matthew, chapter iv., verse 20.]
Under the teachings of Jesus, John grew in knowledge of spiritual
things. He was one of the three accompanying their Master to the Mount
of Transfiguration, where they witnessed a sacred scene withheld from
the others. His nature was affectionate and poetic, and he was a deep
thinker. Often when the meaning of Jesus' words was beyond his
hearers, John treasured the sayings in his memory. On the evening when
Jesus sat at table with his disciples for the last time, John was near
him, leaning on his Master's breast. When, on the next day, Jesus hung
upon the cross, it was John to whom he commended his mother as to a
son. "And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home."
In the years that followed, John pursued his Christian service with
the zeal of an ardent nature. He remained awhile in Judaea and, in
company with Peter, added many converts to the faith. He then carried
the work into Asia Minor, where he founded seven churches. Not only
was he a preacher and organizer, but a voluminous writer as well. The
fourth Gospel is believed to be his work, in which he records many
words and deeds of Jesus overlooked by the other Evangelists. He was
also the writer of the three Epistles which bear his name. Finally, he
is supposed to be the author of the book of Revelation, in which he
described his visions during his exile in the isle of Patmos.
According to tradition, he lived to a great age, and died at Ephesus
in Asia Minor.
The love with which Christians cherish the memory of St. John is seen
in the number of churches bearing his name. One such is that in Parma
which was newly built at the time when Correggio was winning his first
laurels. The most important portions of the interior decorations were
executed by our painter.
Before considering the frescoes of the cupola, the visitor to the
church likes to pause before the lunette over the door of the left
transept. The subject is St. John, seated with his writing materials
on his lap. There is a pile of books behind him and a volume beside
him. At his feet stands the symbolic eagle pluming his wing.
[Illustration: ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
_Church of S. Giovanni Evangelista, Parma_]
The emblems of the Evangelists are drawn from Ezekiel's vision of
the "four living creatures," whose faces were those of a man, a lion,
an ox, and an eagle. Applied respectively to the writers of the four
Gospels, each emblem suggests some characteristic trait. The eagle is
especially appropriate to St. John. As the bird soars into the upper
regions of the sky and looks directly at the sun, so St. John's
inspiration raised him into the highest realms of thought, where he
seemed to gaze directly upon the divine glory. It is for this that he
is called St. John, "the divine." As the Latin inscription over the
lunette reads, "More deeply than the others he disclosed the mysteries
of God."[14]
[Footnote 14: "Altius coeteris Dei patefecit arcana."]
In our picture the Evangelist lifts his eyes heavenward as if
beholding a vision. His lips are parted, and he has the rapt
expression of one absorbed in meditation. His right hand still holds
the pen as he pauses for inspiration.