Doubts are attached to the more early works of Cor regio, arising from the circumstance of his fluctuating style before he had come to a determination of the pre ferable manner to be followed ; he reached that perfect style so gradually, by constant advances and improvement, that it is difficult to say at what period he actually formed his manner. His great work of the cupola of the cathe dral of Parma, which represents the assumption of the Virgin, was finished in the year 1530, and is painted in a manner which has commanded the unqualified admira tion of future ages. It is esteemed for grandeur of de sign, and boldness of conception in the foreshortenings, which are very surprising, when we consider the diffi culty of painting with truth and grace, what Is to be look ed at overhead. The immense and varied multitude of the heavenly host that surround and bear up the virgin, grouped and employed in the most skilful manner, ex hibits a surprisingly happy invention. The exultation of joy and triumph seems diffused over the whole scene with that pure serenity we look for in the countenances of hea venly gladness. They seem to move in a glory of light that effectually withdraws the scene from every thing earthly Notwithstanding the damage this magnificent picture has sustained from the effect of time, the harmony of colour and effect by which such a multitude of figures and groups are melted together into one beautiful whole, is quite stn prising. His picture of the Virgin and St. Jerome, likewise in Parma, is considered as one of the very finest works in Italy, and the masterpiece of Cor regio, for composition and admirable sweetness of ex pression in the virgin. He is particularly excellent in his mode of painting children, whom he represents with such infantine simplicity and'grace, and usually with such a captivating smile on their countenances, that they irresis tibly draw forth exprsseions of endearment from all who behold them.
Corregio brought the power of foreshortening, as seen from underneath, to perfection; and exhibits a playful va riety in his attitudes, that seems to tame every difficulty into perfect subjection to his pencil, and, moreover, brought out with such a luminous effect of colouring as to produce perfect illusion. His great strength was in his management of light and shade, in which he stands un equalled. There is no monotony of effect ; every where is seen the shifting and play of nature itself ; such depth and roundness, that we are tempted to endeavour to look behind his objects. These excellencies are conspicuous in all his performances, but particularly in that striking picture called the Night of Corregio at Dresden, repre senting the infant Jesus discovered by the shepherds. In this remarkable composition, the distance is discernible in the serene light of the moon, while the figures are il luminated by the miraculous effulgence of the infant God, whose body seems transparent, and shining with a myste rious sort of light that dazzles the surrounding figures, and is managed so admirably as to maintain all the dig nity required by such a subject.
Since the death of this great artist his style has become the study of succeeding generations of painters, and is placed with Raphael and Michael Angelo as the summit of attainment to be aimed at. Of these followers, few have approached, and certainly none have ever eoualled him. IIe had a son who painted, but his progress was of short duration, and his works of little note. It was the sight of Corregio's pictures that is said to have inflamed the ardour of Parmegiano, who raised himself to a very high rank as an artist ; he followed the style of Corregio with devotion for some time, until, having seen the works of other great masters at Rome, he formed a style for himself, in which grace and dignity were the characteistic features. His love for the graceful led him to prolong over-much the proportions of his figures; according to the opinion of many, his colouring is of a subdued and modest tone, very suitable to his graceful design ; in paint ing children, his skill was such that his works have been often mistaken for those of Corregio.
As the diffusion of the arts had progressively spread over all the little states of Lombardy, where some leading master in each guided the taste of his townsmen, the effect became prejudicial to the general interests of painting, in so far as it became frittered into a diversity of manners, where one quality generally predominated, to the prejudice of others equally essential. Many were led into false re
finements from the desire of distinction, and the wish to avoid the servile imitation of any master, as almost every form of beauty in painting had been already appropriated as the peculiar study of some one of them. It became diffi cult to strike out any thing new, except in exaggeration of what had already been clone, in caricaturing the grace and simplicity of Raphael, the anatomy of Angelo, or the foreshortening and mellow rotundity of Corregio.
The honour of correcting the prejudical tendency of these circumstances, of arresting for a time the decay of the art, is due to that celebrated family from whom the school of Bologna derives its greatest fame. The Car racci conceived the happy design of establishing a school as a point of union, for the better study of the art, and as a check upon the extravagant taste and corruptions with which the whims of individual artists polluted its purity. The three brothers resolved to dedicate their time, for tune, and talents, to the labours of this great undertaking, and, after having travelled to every place where any thing could be learnt in the art, studied the diversified styles of all the great masters of Italy, improved their own, and stored their minds with every advantage to be derived and selected from the many sources that were scattered into waste over so wide a field, they returned to Bologna. Here they sought to concentrate all that was valuable in the practice of the arts by establishing a great school, af terwards called the Academy of the Carraccis. . The un dertaking was attended with the happiest effects; students flocked eagerly from all quarters; collections of pictures of good masters, and of the antique, were by degrees pro vided; models and anatomical preparations were furnish ed, with a skilful master to instruct in that science ; the three brothers themselves (or rather, to speak correctly, the two brothers and their cousin Ludovico) were assidu ous and eminent in the talent of teaching, so that in a very short time the eyes of the world were directed with ad miration to so great a seminary of the fine arts, reared by the exertions of private individuals alone. The great dogma of the school was the judicious union of the study of the great masters, and of the antique, with nature itself. It soon acquired so high a reputation, as to control the taste of painting in almost every quarter. It is remarkable to find at its head, a man whose early pro gress in the arts was so slow and unpromising, as to in duce his master, Tintoretto, to recommend a change of pursuit, as his attempts in painting seemed so very hope less of ultimate success. But Ludovico Carracci was a youth in whom solid judgment and steady purpose made up for want of promptitude in his nature. He had the sagacity early to discern in what the true merit of paint ing lay, and determined perseveringly to follow its pursuit, without swerving, as is usual with the generality of young artists, after its more showy and superficial parts. He pursued his studies in various parts of Italy, and returned to Bologna, where he persuaded his two cousins, Augus tino and Hannibal Carracci, the sons of his uncle, who was a taylor in that city, to follow his example, and apply themselves to painting. He undertook to instruct them himself, and, upon this slender basis, was the foundation of the great school of the Carraccis laid. The school had been in activity for some time before the masters them selves had attained great celebrity as painters ; and one of the advantageous effects of teaching was the very rapid im provement in the excellencies of the teachers themselves. Although their individual styles had considerable resem blance to each other, yet they were far from being alike eminent, as Hannibal excelled the other two very greatly; in style, Ludovico is said to tend towards Titian, Augus tine to Tintoretto, and Hannibal to Corregio.