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Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist

Vividly colored painting of Virgin Mary with baby Jesus and baby John the Baptist.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Vividly colored painting of Virgin Mary with baby Jesus and baby John the Baptist.

Date:

c. 1515

Artist:

Correggio (Antonio Allegri; Italian, 1489–1534)

About this artwork

Correggio spent most of his brief career in the northern Italian city of Parma. Removed from the great centers of Renaissance art, he was able to create a remarkably innovative body of work. This intimate devotional panel is a product of the artist’s youth. Here Correggio revealed his own evolving style while assimilating lessons from other masters. The panel’s pyramidal grouping of figures reflects the High Renaissance manner of Raphael, while their soft outlines and the Virgin’s enigmatic smile recall Leonardo da Vinci. The evocative use of the distant landscape demonstrates the young artist’s awareness of Northern European precedents. The gentle sensuousness of the figures and the tenderness they show one another through glance are unique to Correggio. The artist used light, shadow, and color to bathe the panel in a gentle glow; skin and fabrics appear to take on a velvety texture. The expressive, idyllic quality of this painting presages the radiant ceiling frescoes of Correggio’s maturity, especially those in Parma’s Cathedral.

Status

On View, Gallery 205

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Antonio da Correggio

Title

Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1510–1520

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

64.2 × 50.2 cm (25 1/4 × 19 3/4 in.); Framed: 79.4 × 63.9 × 8.3 cm (31 1/4 × 25 1/8 × 3 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Clyde M. Carr Fund

Reference Number

1965.688

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/23972/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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