About The Artist - Antonio da Correggio
(August 1489 - March 5, 1534) |
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Antonio Allegri da Correggio or Correggio was the foremost
painter of the 16th century. |
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About
The Painting - The Assumption of the Virgin |
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Antonio Allegri da
Correggio or Correggio is known for his vigorous and sensuous
works that defined the art of the 16th century. Famous for
his ability to use illusionist perspective and dramatic foreshortening
in dynamic compositions Correggio prefigured the Rococo art
of the 18th century. |
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The Assumption of the
Virgin is one of the most well-known works of Correggio. It
was part of the fresco paintings by the artist and decorates
the dome of the Cathedral of Parma in Italy. A bold and inventive
illustration of the High Renaissance period, The Assumption
of the Virgin depicts the Assumption of Mary to Heaven. |
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This fresco depicts
the four saints that protect the people - St. John the Baptist
with the lamb, St. Thomas with an angel carrying the martyrdom
palm leaf, St. Hilary with a yellow mantle, and St. Bernard,
the only figure that is looking upwards. |
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Just below the feet
of Jesus is the uncorrupted Virgin swathed in red and blue
robes and pulled upwards by a group of angles. The beauty
of the composition is the perspective of the fresco. The uncountable
numbers of angles are shown indulging in various activities
such as singing, or playing musical instruments, and create
a visual vortex that spirals upwards. The group of blessed
also shows Adam and Eve and Judith with the head of Holofernes.
Also, right in the center of the dome, Correggio has shown
a beardless and shortened Jesus Christ as he descends to meet
the Virgin, his mother. |
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The Assumption of the
Virgin broke new grounds as it served as a catalyst for the
Baroque art style of painting dramatic and illusion paintings.
Correggio treated the entire surface of the dome as a single
canvas and equated it with the vault of heaven. Furthermore,
the life-like ways in which the figures in the heavenly clouds
protrude into the viewer's vision add to the brave and amazing
use of perspective. |
