Madonna and Child

The name attached to this Madonna is a large one. Antonio Allegri, called Correggio, led the painters of Parma in the early 16th century and was loved for his tender, softly lit images of the Virgin and child. This panel, though, is catalogued as school of Correggio, the museum's careful way of saying it comes from his circle or a later follower working in his manner, not from the master's own hand. It carries no firm date. The soft modelling and the tender pose are what made Correggio's Madonnas loved, reproduced here in oil by a hand the records do not name.