Correggio, 'Christ taking Leave of his Mother', probably before 1514
About the work
Overview
Christ kneels before his mother to ask for her blessing as he prepares to leave and follow his destiny. He is robed in white against the blueish landscape, his pose conveying a sense of delicacy and stillness. The Virgin Mary swoons, her face and hands drained of colour – she knows that her son is leaving to go to his certain death. She falls into the arms of her companion, who is probably one of the Three Marys, who supported the Virgin during the Passion (Christ’s torture and crucifixion). Saint John the Evangelist stands behind Christ, wringing his hands in grief.
This is one of Correggio’s most impressive early paintings. The subject does not figure in any of the Gospels and is rare in Italian Renaissance art. However, it was common in German paintings and engravings, which Correggio admired. X-ray images reveal that Correggio began a different version of this picture but then abandoned it, turned the canvas upside down and started again.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Christ taking Leave of his Mother
- Artist
- Correggio
- Artist dates
- active 1494; died 1534
- Date made
- probably before 1514
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 86.7 × 76.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Lord Duveen, 1927
- Inventory number
- NG4255
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 16th-century Italian Frame
Provenance
Probably identical with the picture mentioned in 1786 (with a detailed iconographic and stylistic description) by Tiraboschi, who states that his informant was the Abate Carlo Bianconi. The picture is stated to belong to ‘a certain Signor Rossi’ in Milan. Tiraboschi’s description was reproduced almost verbatim by Fiorillo in 1801. Pungileoni says that in his day the picture was in the possession, at Milan, of ‘Signor D. Antonio Rossi, one of the heirs of the Rossi mentioned by Bianconi’. He adds that a certain Signor Jesi, writing to him in 1815 from Milan, complained that the picture had been so drastically restored that the grain of the canvas was visible even from some distance. In view of the fact that, later in the nineteenth century, there is a gap of some twenty years in the picture’s pedigree, this information on the condition of the Rossi picture increases the probability that it is no. 4255. Tiraboschi’s reference to Biaconi is also quoted in Lanzi. What was presumably the same picture was seen in Milan on 1st December, 1856, by Mündler in the possession of an unspecified lady. No. 4255 was discovered by Dr. J. P. Richter about 1879 in the possession (at Brixton) of Professor Vitale de Tivoli. The latter stated that he had acquired it from the widow of Professor Parlatore in Florence. Professor Parlatore, who died in 1877, had married, in 1860, a certain Eugenia Crippa of Milan, and it may have been in this way that the picture entered into his possession. It was purchased, soon after 1882, by Fairfax Murray, who took it back to Florence and later sold it to R. H. Benson. Purchased from the latter by Sir Joseph (later Lord) Duveen, who presented it, 1927. Exhibited B.F.A.C., 1894 (50); R.A., 1896 (131); Grafton Galls., 1909–10 (72); Manchester, 1927 (30).
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1987; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2008Correggio in ParmaGalleria Nazionale (Parma)20 September 2008 - 25 January 2009
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2016Correggio e Parmigianino. Arte a Parma nel CinquecentoScuderie del Quirinale11 March 2016 - 26 June 2016
Bibliography
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1781G. Tiraboschi, Biblioteca modenese, Modena 1781
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1798J.D. Fiorillo, Geschichte der zeichnenden Künste von ihrer Wiederauflebung bis auf die neuesten Zeiten, 5 vols, Göttingen 1798
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1817L. Pungileoni, Memorie istoriche di Antonio Allegri detto il Correggio, 3 vols, Parma 1817
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1822L.A. Lanzi, Storia pittorica della italia dal risorgimento delle belle arti fin presso al fine del XVIII secolo, Florence 1822
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1879J.P. Richter, Antonio Allegri gen. Correggio, Leipzig 1879
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1890A. Venturi, 'Il pittor delle Grazie', Nuova Antologia, XXX/114, 1890, pp. 230-1
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1891G. Frizzoni, Arte italiana del Rinascimento, Milan 1891
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1892G. Morelli, Italian Painters: Critical Studies of Their Works, 2 vols, London 1892
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1894F. Harck, 'Ausstellungen und Versteigerungen: Burlington Fine Arts Club, London', Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, XVII, 1894, pp. 312-9
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1896C. Ricci, Antonio Allegri da Correggio, London 1896
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1897H. Thode, 'Corrado Ricci, Antonio Allegri da Correggio', Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, XX, 1897, pp. 314-8
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1898H. Thode, Correggio, Bielefeld 1898
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1907G. Gronau, Correggio, des Meisters Gemälde in 196 Abbildungen, Stuttgart 1907
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1909W. Suida, 'Notes on the Early Development of Correggio', The Burlington Magazine, XIV/71, 1909, pp. 302-4
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1910R. Fry, 'La mostra di antichi dipinti alle Grafton Galleries di Londra', Rassegna d'arte, X/3, 1910, pp. 35-9
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1910F. Monod, 'L'exposition nationale de maîtres anciens à Londres. Premier article', Gazette des beaux-arts, LIV/631, 1910, pp. 43-65
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1914T. Borenius, Catalogue of Italian Pictures at 16 South Street, Park Lane, London and Buchhurst in Sussex Collected by Robert and Evelyn Benson, London 1914
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1926A. Venturi, Correggio, Rome 1926
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1927T. Borenius, 'The Benson Collection', Apollo, VI, 1927, pp. 65-70
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1927W.G. Constable, 'Recent Acquisitions at the National Gallery', Apollo, 1927
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1927C. Holmes, 'Recent Acquisitions at Trafalgar Square', The Burlington Magazine, L/294, 1927, pp. 106-13
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1930C. Ricci, Correggio, London 1930
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1948C. Gould, 'A Probable Adaptation by Correggio of Dürer's Iconography', The Burlington Magazine, XC/547, 1948, pp. 286-9
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1953P. Bianconi, Tutta la pittura del Correggio, Milan 1953
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1958R. Longhi, 'Le Fasi del Correggio Giovine e l'Esigenza del suo Viaggio Romano', Paragone, IX/101, 1958, pp. 34-53
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1960G. Morelli, Italienische Malerie der Renaissance: Im Briefwechsel von Giovanni Morelli und Jean Paul Richter, 1876-1891, ed. I.A. Richter, Baden Baden 1960
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1961S. Bottari, Correggio, Milan 1961
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1962Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian), London 1962
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1962R.M. Arb, The Young Correggio: An Analysis of the Artistic Formation of Antonio Allegri, Phd Thesis, Radcliffe College, Harvard University 1962
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1964S. Zamboni, Correggio, Milan 1964
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1965M. Laskin, The Early Works of Correggio, Ann Arbor 1965
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1966K.W. Forster, Correggio, London 1966
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1966G. Copertini, 'Il Correggio. Parte III: La Vita e le Opere', Parma per l'Arte, XVI/1, 1966, pp. 39-40
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1975C. Gould, Delaroche and Gautier: Gautier's Views on the 'Execution of Lady Jane Grey' and on other Compositions by Delaroche, London 1975
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1976C. Gould, The Paintings of Correggio, London 1976
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1981D.A. Brown, The Young Correggio and His Leonardesque Sources, New York 1981
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1981C. Gould, 'Lotto and Correggio', in P. Zampetti and V. Sgarbis (eds), Lorenzo Lotto: Atti del convegno internazionale di studi per il V centenario della nascita, Asolo 1981, pp. 169-71
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1982G. Ercoli, Arte e fortuna del Correggio, Modena 1982
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1985C.T. Dowd, 'The Travel Diary of Otto Mündler', The Walpole Society, LI, 1985
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1986M. Aspinwall et al., The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 19 December 1986 - 16 February 1987; Pinacoteca Nazionale, 10 September - 11 November 1986; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 26 March 26 - 24 May 1987), Washington 1986
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1987Gould, Cecil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1987
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1991N. Massi, 'Lorenzo Lotto's "Nativity" and "Christ Taking Leave of His Mother": Pendant Devotional Paintings', Artibus et historiae, XII/23, 1991, pp. 113‑4
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1992C. Gould, Il primo Correggio, problematiche aperte e nuove attribuzioni, Correggio 1992
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1993M. Di Giampaolo and A. Muzzi, Correggio: Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1993
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1995A. Muzzi, 'L'espressione del dolore in alcune opere del Correggio degli anni Venti', Dialoghi di storia dell'arte, I, 1995, pp. 134-45
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1997D. Ekserdjian, Correggio, London 1997
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2003E. Boillet Caravaglios, 'Il Congedo di Cristo dalla madre dipinto da Lorenzo Lotto e narrato da Pietro Aretino', Venezia cinquecento, XIII/25, 2003, pp. 99-130
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2008L.F. Schianchi (ed.), Correggio (exh. cat. Galleria Nazionale, Camera di San Paolo, Cattedrale, Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, 20 September 2008 - 25 January 2009), Milan 2008
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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