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https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/vasari1851bd4/0513
GIROLAMO DA CARPL
505
picture was our Saviour Christ appearing to Mary Magda-
lene in the form of the Gardener ;* and this painting, which
was executed with a degree of perfection, and finished with
a softness to which no words could do justice ; this work, I
say, did so possess itself of the heart of Girolamo, that he
could not satisfy himself with copying it, and at length set
off for Modena, to see the other works of Correggio in that
place. Arrived there accordingly, Girolamo was filled with
admiration at the sight of what he beheld, but he was
struck with astonishment by one among them more than by
all besides. This was a large picture, which is, indeed, most
divine : the subject of the work is Our Lady with the
Divine Child in her arms, the infant being in the act of
placing the ring on the finger of Santa Caterina, whom he is
espousing.b There is, besides, a San Sebastiano and other
figures, with expressions of countenance so beautiful that
those faces appear to have been made in Paradise ; the hair
and hands, moreover, are such that it is not possible to
imagine any thing more perfect in their kind, nor can any-
thing painted be more natural or more life-like.
From the Doctor, Messer Francesco Grillenzoni, the owner
of the picture, and who had been an intimate friend of
Correggio, Da Carpi obtained permission to copy the same,
which he did with all the care that it is possible to conceive.
He afterwards did as much in respect to the picture of San
Pietro Martire,+ which Correggio had painted for a com-
pany of laymen, by which it is held in the high estimation
which it so justly deserves. In this work, to say nothing of
the other figures, there is most particularly to be remarked,
* Mentioned in the Life of Correggio. See vol. ii. p. 407, note §.
+ This picture, which in the seventeenth century was in possession of
Cardinal Sforza, came afterwards into that of the French king, and is still
in the Louvre. It has been engraved by Etienne Picard, and the small
replica at Naples has been engraved by Jacob Felsing. In the Hermitage
at St. Petersburg there is a picture exactly similar to that at Naples, and
which bears the following inscription :—Laus Deo. Per Donna Metilde
d’Este Antonio Lieto di Correggio fece il presenti per sua Divozione,
1517.
J The St. Peter the Martyr was one of those pictures which passed from
the Gallery of the House of Este to that of the king of Poland : it is now
in the Dresden Gallery, where it is called the St. George, from the circum-
stance of that Saint holding a prominent position in the picture.
505
picture was our Saviour Christ appearing to Mary Magda-
lene in the form of the Gardener ;* and this painting, which
was executed with a degree of perfection, and finished with
a softness to which no words could do justice ; this work, I
say, did so possess itself of the heart of Girolamo, that he
could not satisfy himself with copying it, and at length set
off for Modena, to see the other works of Correggio in that
place. Arrived there accordingly, Girolamo was filled with
admiration at the sight of what he beheld, but he was
struck with astonishment by one among them more than by
all besides. This was a large picture, which is, indeed, most
divine : the subject of the work is Our Lady with the
Divine Child in her arms, the infant being in the act of
placing the ring on the finger of Santa Caterina, whom he is
espousing.b There is, besides, a San Sebastiano and other
figures, with expressions of countenance so beautiful that
those faces appear to have been made in Paradise ; the hair
and hands, moreover, are such that it is not possible to
imagine any thing more perfect in their kind, nor can any-
thing painted be more natural or more life-like.
From the Doctor, Messer Francesco Grillenzoni, the owner
of the picture, and who had been an intimate friend of
Correggio, Da Carpi obtained permission to copy the same,
which he did with all the care that it is possible to conceive.
He afterwards did as much in respect to the picture of San
Pietro Martire,+ which Correggio had painted for a com-
pany of laymen, by which it is held in the high estimation
which it so justly deserves. In this work, to say nothing of
the other figures, there is most particularly to be remarked,
* Mentioned in the Life of Correggio. See vol. ii. p. 407, note §.
+ This picture, which in the seventeenth century was in possession of
Cardinal Sforza, came afterwards into that of the French king, and is still
in the Louvre. It has been engraved by Etienne Picard, and the small
replica at Naples has been engraved by Jacob Felsing. In the Hermitage
at St. Petersburg there is a picture exactly similar to that at Naples, and
which bears the following inscription :—Laus Deo. Per Donna Metilde
d’Este Antonio Lieto di Correggio fece il presenti per sua Divozione,
1517.
J The St. Peter the Martyr was one of those pictures which passed from
the Gallery of the House of Este to that of the king of Poland : it is now
in the Dresden Gallery, where it is called the St. George, from the circum-
stance of that Saint holding a prominent position in the picture.