Correggio summary

Correggio, orig. Antonio Allegri, (born c. Aug. 1489, Correggio [now in Emilia-Romagna, Italy]—died March 5, 1534, Correggio), Italian painter. He studied the work of Andrea Mantegna in Mantua and was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci. On a visit to Rome he was inspired by the Vatican frescoes of Michelangelo and Raphael. By 1518 he was in Parma, the scene of his greatest activity. His first large-scale commission there was the ceiling decoration of the Camera di San Paolo, in the convent of St. Paul (c. 1518–19). His fresco in the dome of Parma Cathedral (c. 1525–30) features the dramatic illusionistic style that influenced dome painting in the Baroque period. His use of bold foreshortening, his brilliant, highly original approach to colour and light, and the exquisite grace of his figures established him as one of the most inventive artists of the High Renaissance.