CORREGGIO’S GRACE.
Reading edition
No one can contemplate the works of Correggio, without being captivated by that peculiar beauty which the Italians have very appropriately distinguished by the epithet Correggiesque, for it was the complexion of the individual mind and temperament of the artist, stamped upon the work of his hand. No one approached him in this respect, if perhaps we except Lionardo da Vinci. Though so often imitated, it remains in fact inimitable; an attempt degenerating into affectation of the most intolerable kind. It consists in the blending of sentiment in expression, with flowing, graceful forms, an exquisite fullness and softness in the tone of color, and an almost illusive chiaro-scuro, all together conveying to the mind of the spectator the most delightful impression of harmony, both spiritual and sensual. He is the painter of beauty par excellence; he is to us what Apelles was to the ancients—the standard of the amiable and the graceful.