Master Draughtsmen of the Renaissance. Correggio (c.1489-1534) and Parmigianino (1503 -1540) have long been recognised as two of the most outstanding and gifted draughtsmen of the 16th century. This important exhibition, organised jointly with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, will present over 130 drawings by the two artists from English and North American public and private collections, including a number of works never previously exhibited.
Master Draughtsmen of the Renaissance.
Correggio (c.1489-1534) and Parmigianino (1503 -1540) have long been recognised as two of the most outstanding and gifted draughtsmen of the 16th century. This important exhibition, organised jointly with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, will present over 130 drawings by the two artists from English and North American public and private collections, including a number of works never previously exhibited. It will be the first major show to be devoted to their drawings, with the selection showing the development of their individual styles and providing an insight into the creative process underlying some of their most famous paintings.
As a youth, Parmigianino almost certainly worked under Correggio, and his early style was modelled on that of the older painter. However, their characters and working methods were very different. Correggio's drawings are almost invariably connected to his work as a painter, and his studies show how he meticulously studied and refined each component of a composition on paper before executing the final work. Correggio's studies are often of outstanding beauty particularly those which in their rich combination of media are like paintings in miniature.
Parmigianino was, by contrast, an artist who liked above all to draw, and the selection of almost 100 studies by him show his dazzling facility in every technique. The exhibition will highlight the diversity of Parmigianino's draughtsmanship with designs for paintings, large-scale frescoes, prints, life drawings, copies after antique sculpture, and highly finished pen studies.
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