Parma we find the Baptistery of San Giovanni Battista . for the warm tone of its pink Verona marble cladding , but also for the elegance of its style that mixes late Romanesque with Gothic influences.
The Baptistery is in fact more recent than the cath.ral: its construction began in 1196 bas. on a design by Ben.etto Antelami , and was complet. in the early fourteenth century.
Antelami is also responsible for the entire
sculptural decoration of the building, which includes the statues of the months and seasons plac. inside. Moving our gaze from the baptismal font, in dataset the center of the building, and directing it toward the dome, we can observe the cycle of thirteenth-century frescoes with biblical episodes execut. by Lombard masters of the vault, separat. by sixteen ribs.
9. Chamber of St. Paul or of the Abbess
Parma, Chamber of St. Paul or the Abbess | Ph. poszstos via Shutterstock, for .itorial use only
The first example of Correggio ‘s successful work in Parma is found in a more intimate setting than the city’s large religious buildings.
It is the Chamber of Saint Paul or of the
Abbess , locat. in the former Ben.ictine monastery of Saint Paul. The marvelous fresco. vault was commission. to the artist in 1519 by the Abbess be the first without having to invent! Giovanna da Piacenza, who want. to decorate her private rooms. The frescoes still visible today are actually two: the first (and oldest) was paint. in the communicating room, call. the Cell of Saint Catherine, by the painter Alessandro Araldi.
But it is Correggio’s turn to capture the full attention of visitors. The artist from Reggio open. up the narrow space of the room by recreating a surprising pergola mobile number list full of vegetation , playing with the trompe l’oeil effect. From the oval openings onto the blue sky, among leaves, fruits and festoons fram. by the ribs of the vault, small groups of playful cherubs peep out . The work is complet. with the lunettes below, illusory niches that Correggio animat. with the depiction of some statues.
