Emilian school, 18th century, Madonna and Child

Emilian school, 18th century Madonna and Child Oil on panel, 45 x 24.5 cm With frame, 62 x 44 cm This Madonna Enthroned with Child fits into the context of the Emilian tradition of the sixteenth century, a strand to which Antonio Allegri known as Correggio (1489 – 1534) refers. The unknown author of this painting must refer precisely to this latter. Specifically, Correggio's influence is reminiscent of the background, which develops according to concentric luminous beams, more orange towards the outside and increasingly golden towards the inside. This color gradient, conceived by Correggio for frescoes, with a great illusionistic-perspective and scenographic effect, in the dome of San Giovanni Evangelista in Parma, allows to increase the spiritual aspect of the characters, positioned on a cloud transported to heaven by cherubs. The head of the virgin almost touches the highest limit of the canvas, adding to the composition the idea of ??ascensional motion. The lesson of Correggio is also absorbed by the treatment of the Madonna's face, softened by the gaze turned downwards but also by the composed tenderness of the embrace with the son and by the light effects of the draperies and the cloud. The composition can be compared with The Madonna of San Sebastiano by Correggio at the Gemaldegalerie in Dresden, executed in 1524 and with The Madonna in Glory by Benvenuto Tisi known as Garofalo (1476 or 1481 –1559), executed between 1510 and 1520, now preserved at the National Gallery of Parma. The figurative model of this Madonna and Child in glory can also be found in numerous more recent examples, although there are variations, such as the presence of the Saints assisting the Virgin's ascent into heaven. More recent examples of the maintenance of this iconography can be found, again in the Emilian area, in artists such as Guercino (1591-1666) with the Madonna and Child in Glory, now at the National Gallery of Parma.