Madonna della scala correggio biography

Early Works

In 1514, Correggio completed three tondos for the entrance of the church of St Andrea in Mantua, before returning to his home town where he signed a contract for an altarpiece in the local monastery of S.

Francesco. This work, Madonna with St Francis (1514-15, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden) shows traces of Lorenzo Costa (1460-1535) - who influenced the Carracci-led Bolognese School of painting - and Leonardo Da Vinci.

By 1516, Correggio was in Parma, where he remained for much of his career.

In 1519 he married Girolama Francesca di Braghetis, also from Correggio, who died prematurely in 1529. One of his sons, Pomponio Allegri, became a mediocre painter.

Frescoes

Correggio's first important commission was a ceiling fresco - Camera di San Paolo (1519) - at the Convent of St Paul in Parma.

A highly innovative form of interior decoration, it incorporated classical as well as more whimsical elements.

After this, he paint