View source for Bolognini Madonna

{{short description|Painting by Antonio da Correggio}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox artwork/wikidata
|year={{circa}} 1514&ndash;1519
|museum=[[Sforza Castle Pinacoteca]]
|city=, Milan
}}
The '''''Bolognini Madonna''''' is an oil-on-panel painting (later transferred to canvas) executed ca. 1514&ndash;1519 by the [[Italian Renaissance]] painter [[Antonio da Correggio]].
== History ==
It is dated to around 1514&ndash;1519,<ref>[https://pinacoteca.milanocastello.it/en/content/antonio-allegri-known-correggio-bolognini-madonna Pinacoteca]</ref> sometime between his ''[[Madonna and Child with St Francis]]'' (1514&ndash;1515) and his lost ''[[Albinea Madonna]]'' (1517&ndash;1519).<ref name=ArtHome>{{in lang|it}} http://www.correggioarthome.it/SchedaOpera.jsp?idDocumentoArchivio=2487 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607055207/http://www.correggioarthome.it/SchedaOpera.jsp?idDocumentoArchivio=2487 |date=2020-06-07 }}</ref> It has been attributed to Correggio since the late 19th century.<ref>{{in lang|it}} Giuseppe Adani, ''Correggio pittore universale'', Silvana Editoriale, Correggio 2007. {{ISBN|9788836609772}}</ref>
In 1865, the painting was left by Gian Giacomo Attendolo Bolognini (for whom the painting is now named) to the [[Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco]] in Milan, where it now hangs.<ref>{{in lang|it}} AA.VV., ''La Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco a Milano'', Skira, Milano 2005. {{ISBN|88-7624-260-0}}</ref> It is compositionally related to the artist's ''[[Madonna and Child with the Infant John the Baptist (Correggio, Chicago)|Madonna and Child with the Infant John the Baptist]]''.
==Description and style==
In the painting, a room with a pilaster decorated by candelabras in low relief opens onto a distant river landscape, far behind the portrait subject. Seated and at half figure, the Madonna holds the Baby [[Jesus]] in her lap as he plays with a young [[Saint John the Baptist]] who is handing him a cross—symbol of the future sacrifice of Jesus. The painting represents one of many variants on the theme of the meeting of Saint John and the Baby Jesus, a theme dear to [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and to his Milanese [[Leonardeschi]] circle. The painting, in fact, is an example of the Leonardic influence on the young Correggio, both in the physical depiction of the Madonna, and in the landscape and the use of [[sfumato]]. The sfumato smudging is accentuated by the effects of shadows as in the veil of Marie that, hanging from the side of her head, casts a melancholy shadow over her face.
[[File:Correggio, madonna bolognini, 1514-19, 02.JPG|thumb|Detail of ''Madonna Bolognini'']]
The painting's atmosphere is pervaded by a subtle disquiet that characterizes many paintings of this subject. Here, that emotion is damped in favor of an affable and sweet scene, where the two children meet, despite some ominous hints. Only the left hand of Marie, that seems suspended between the desire to protect Jesus and the choice to leave him to his destiny, insinuates her foresight.
The net of light that illuminates the low-relief contrast with the humid and vaporous landscape demonstrates the inspirations of the young Correggio. The chromatic texture, that balances reds, yellows, and blue, joins the figures and the landscape yet emphasizes its protagonists. For example, the mass of foliage of the tree illuminated behind Marie makes her figure stand out and extends her perceived stature.
Given that the work was transferred from a panel to canvas, the colors were certainly once more vivid, as in the impression that the painting is a little out of focus. It is more likely due to the result of that intervention than a stylistic choice.
Compared to the analogous ''[[Madonna and Child with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist]]'' in the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]] that preceded it, the ''Bolognini Madonna'' appears better articulated and more atmospheric, with the Leonardic landscape in the background and the finely decorated pilaster in the foreground.{{r|ArtHome}} This combination might be a concession by Correggio to the archaeological fantasies of [[Andrea Mantegna|Mantegna]] and an homage, perhaps, to his decoration of the {{ill|Palazzo dei Principi|it}} doors.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://pinacoteca.milanocastello.it/en/content/antonio-allegri-known-correggio-bolognini-madonna Bolognini Madonna]
{{commons category|Madonna Bolognini}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Adani |first1=Giuseppe |title=Correggio : pittore universale (1489-1534) : monografia esplicativa e didattica |date=2007 |publisher=Silvana |location=Cinisello Balsamo, Milano |isbn=9788836609772 |language=it}}
* {{cite book |title=La Pinacoteca del Castello sforzesco a Milano |date=2005 |publisher=Skira |location=Milano |isbn=88-7624-260-0 |language=it}}
{{Antonio da Correggio}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1519 paintings]]
[[Category:Paintings of the Madonna and Child by Correggio]]
[[Category:Paintings in the Castello Sforzesco]]