Scuola emiliana (XVIII) - Madonna con Bambino

Emilian school, 18th century
Madonna with Child
Oil on panel, 45 x 24. 5 cm
With frame, 62 x 44 cm

This Madonnai on throne with child fits into the context of the Emilian tradition of the sixteenth century, a trend to which Antonio Allegri known as Correggio (1489 – 1534) refers. The unknown author of this canvas must be referring precisely to the latter. Specifically, the background brings to mind the influence of Correggio, which develops according to concentric light beams, more orange towards the outside and increasingly golden towards the inside. This gradient of colours, created by Correggio for the frescoes, of great illusionistic-perspective and scenographic effect, in the dome of San Giovanni Evangelista in Parma, allows us to increase the spiritual aspect of the characters, positioned on a cloud transported to the sky by cherubs . The virgin's head almost touches the highest limit of the canvas, adding the idea of upward motion to the composition.
Correggio's lesson is also absorbed by the treatment of the Madonna's face, softened by the gaze turned downwards but also by the composed tenderness of the embrace with her son and by the luminous effects of the drapery and the cloud. The composition can be compared with The Madonna of San Sebastiano by Correggio at the Gemaldegalerie in Dresden, executed in 1524 and with The Madonna in Gloria by Benvenuto Tisi known as Garofalo (1476 or 1481 –1559) , executed between 1510 and 1520, today preserved in the National Gallery of Parma. The figurative model of this Madonna with child in glory can also be found in numerous more recent examples, although there are variations, such as the presence of the Saints to witness the Virgin's ascent into heaven. More recent examples of the maintenance of this iconography can be found, again in the Emilian area, in artists such as Guercino (1591-1666) with the Madonna and Child in Glory, now in the National Gallery of Parma