Correggio

Antonio Allegri, called Correggio (from his native town near Parma), was the leading Emilian painter of the early 16th century and one of the greatest Italian artists of the Renaissance. A pioneer of illusionistic fresco decoration, he also painted many influential altarpieces and smaller scale religious paintings, as well as a small number of mythological scenes. He was a major influence on Parmigianino. Correggio is chiefly famous for the dome frescoes in S. Giovanni Evangelista and the Cathedral of Parma, and a series of major altarpieces.

Correggio was probably trained by the minor artist Francesco Bianchi Ferrari. He was later influenced by Northern European prints, and by Mantegna and Costa, and his work was subsequently greatly affected by Leonardo, who had been active in Milan, and by Venetian painting. It seems likely, though there is no proof, that Correggio visited Rome, possibly about 1518.