16th Century, By Antonio Allegri, Called Il Correggio, Madonna Of The Ladder

The mid-16th century, by Antonio Allegri, called Il Correggio

Madonna of the Ladder

Oil on panel, cm 26 x 21

With frame, cm 46 x 41

The work in question is a copy of the famous Madonna della Scala by Antonio Allegri, known as il Correggio. The sacred image, particularly venerated by the citizens of Parma - it was most likely a civic commission - had been frescoed by the famous master active between the fifteenth and sixteenth century directly on the city walls, above the San Michele gate. Most art historians consider the painting to have been painted at the same time as the frescoes cycle of the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, so it is in the period when the Correggio reached full artistic maturity. The artist, most acclaimed by Vasari, who considers him one of the first proponents of the "modern way", as far as the pictorial panorama of northern Italy is concerned, he is responsible for wonderful works, such as the frescoes of the Chamber of the Badessa, those of the Cathedral of Parma, with the assumption of the Virgin, those of the church of San Giovanni Battista, the Madonna of the chair, the Madonna of Dresden and the rich and articulated cycle of the Loves of Jupiter. Giorgio Vasari, among other works by hand of Allegri, had observed the Madonna della Scala in 1542 during its passage to Parma: it is worth remembering the admiring words: "He painted again above a door of that city a Our Lady, who has the child in her arms, which is wonderful to see the vague color in fresh of this work, where he reported from strangers travelers, who have seen nothing else than his own, praise et infinite honor" (Vite... 1568) is a very important and useful tool