This wonderful picture is one of the most singular and beautiful works
of that great master. Adopting an idea till then unknown to painters, he
has created a new principle of light and shade; and in the limited space
of nine feet by six, has expanded a breadth and depth of perspective
which defies description. The subject he has chosen, is the adoration of
the shepherds, who, after hearing the glad tidings of joy and salvation,
proclaimed by the heavenly host, hasten to hail the new-born King and
Saviour. On so unpromising a subject as the birth of a child, in so mean
a place as a stable, the painter has, however, thrown the air of
divinity itself. The principal light emanates from the body of the
infant, and illuminates the surrounding objects; but a secondary light
is borrowed from a group of angels above, which, while it aids the
general effect, is yet itself irradiated by the glory breaking from the
child, and allegorizing the expression of scripture, that Christ is the
true light of the world. Nor is the art, with which the figures are
represented less admirable than the management of the light. The face of
the child is skillfully hidden, by its oblique position, from the
conviction that the features of a new-born infant are ill-adapted to
please the eye; but that of the Virgin is warmly irradiated, and yet so
disposed, that in bending with maternal fondness over her offspring, it
exhibits exquisite beauty, without the harshness of deep shadows. The
light strikes boldly on the lower part of her face, and is lost in a
fainter glow on the eyes, while the forehead is thrown into shade. The
figures of Joseph and the shepherds are traced with the same skillful
pencil; and the glow which illuminates the piece is heightened to the
imagination, by the attitude of a shepherdess, bringing an offering of
doves, who shades her eyes with her hand, as if unable to sustain the
brightness of incarnate divinity. The glimmering of the rising dawn,
which shews the figures in the background, contributes to augment the
splendor of the principal glory. "The beauty, grace, and finish of the
piece," says Mengs, "are admirable, and every part is executed in a
peculiar and appropriate style."
Opie, in his lectures, speaking of this work, justly observes, "In the
Nótte, where the light diffused over the piece emanates from the child,
he has embodied a thought at once beautiful, picturesque, and sublime;
an idea which has been seized upon with such avidity, and produced so
many imitations that no one is accused of plagiarism. The real author is
forgotten, and the public accustomed to consider this incident as
naturally a part of the subject, have long ceased to inquire, when, or
by whom, it was invented."
The history of this picture is curious, though involved in much
obscurity. It is generally stated that while Correggio was engaged upon
the grand cupola at Parma, he generally passed the colder season, when
he could not work in fresco, in his native place. Passing through Reggio
in one of his journeys, he received a commission from Alberto Pratonero
for an altar-piece of the Nativity, which produced one of his finest
pictures, now called La Nótte. The indefatigable Tiraboschi discovered
the original contract for the work, which is dated October 14th, 1522,
and fixes the price at two hundred and eight _livre di moneta Vecchia_,
or forty-seven and a half gold ducats (about $104). It was painted for
the Pratoneri chapel in the church of S. Prospero at Reggio, but it was
not fixed in its destined place till 1530. It is said that it was
removed surreptitiously by order of Francesco I., the reigning Duke of
Modena, who substituted a copy. The same story, however, is related of
Correggio's Ancona, painted for the church of the Conventuals at
Correggio. (See vol. ii., page 257, of this work.) At all events,
the elector of Saxony subsequently purchased this gem, with
other valuable pictures, from the Ducal Gallery at Mantua, and it now
forms one of the principal ornaments of the Dresden Gallery.