Synopses & Reviews
This beautifully illustrated book is the first full-scale chronological and critical account of the paintings and drawings of Correggio (c.1489-1534) -- a genius of the Italian Renaissance who became one of the most influential of all European painters. David Ekserdjian discusses Correggio's mythological, erotic, and religious paintings -- including many altarpieces -- and closely examines the attribution, chronology, physical appearance, and subject matter of these works. He also looks closely at Correggio's drawings, which provide many interesting insights into the artist's creative process. The book's numerous color illustrations include recently cleaned frescoes in Parma, as well as other works that have been transformed through restoration, mid some previously unknown paintings and drawings that have re-emerged and are here published for the first time.
Ekserdjian places the artist in the context of sixteenth-century Italy and of the north Italian artistic tradition. Correggio was unique as an artist of the first rank who worked only in the provinces, far from the major art centers in Florence, Venice, and Rome. His isolation had a significant effect on his development, the author contends, although Correggio was sensitive to the influences of his contemporaries: Mantegna and Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. Ekserdjian reveals Correggio as a profoundly serious as well as intensely joyous religous artist, and as a great innovator -- he was among the first major artists to experiment with the dramatic effects of light and was a master of illusionism. The author examines documentary material that sheds new light on Correggio's patrons, the question of whether (and if so, when)Correggio went to Rome, and the simultaneous projects the artist undertook during the crucial decade of the 1520s, when he was at his most prolific and inspired.
Review
"Still overshadowed by Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and Titian, Correggio is one of the great painters of the Italian Renaissance. This lavishly illustrated book is a feast for the eyes, as it is filled with reproductions of the painter's religious pictures, mythologies, and drawings. The text, though written in the dry-as-dust manner of scholarly art historical writing and critically void of spirit, is nevertheless loaded with precise information, much of it previously little known." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
'Leonardo, Raphael, Cranach, Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussin, Dürer, Monet, Chagall, Picasso, and Schiele--these and other great European artists are represented in this superb book, which showcases one of Europe\'s finest but lesser-known art collections, that of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. The museum was formed in the 19th century by the Hungarian government, with the aim of creating a public collection through the acquisition of private collections. The most significant of these, the Esterházy collection, included important Old Master paintings and fine Old Master drawings. Building on the Esterházy works, the museum has continued to acquire European art dating from the 14th to the 20th centuries.
Over 200 works from the collection are reproduced here alongside a selection of works from the Hungarian National Gallery. Texts by eminent scholars explore the history of the museum and include entries on each work.'
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 320-327) and index.
About the Author
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David Ekserdjian is professor of art history and head of the Department of History of Art and Film at the University of Leicester, England. He was previously at Christie\\\'s and was editor of Apollo magazine from 1997 to 2004. He is a trustee of the National Gallery, London.\''