Antonio Allegri da Correggio, his life, his friends, and his time . husiasm ; a number ofbones were removed, which were sentto the Palazzo Communale ;^ the firstskull that was picked up was gravelyhanded round and examined by all the rm * ^w s. [irosaic Hamlets present, and finally ^?^ sent off to Modena. There were, of ^ course, other skulls in the tomb, but these were not taken out with the bones,i_ lest suspicion should be roused. It was given out that only the skeleton of the painter had been discovered, and that 111 llie Piazza, this had been equally divided betweenCorreggio and Mo
Antonio Allegri da Correggio, his life, his friends, and his time . husiasm ; a number ofbones were removed, which were sentto the Palazzo Communale ;^ the firstskull that was picked up was gravelyhanded round and examined by all the rm * ^w s. [irosaic Hamlets present, and finally ^?^ sent off to Modena. There were, of ^ course, other skulls in the tomb, but these were not taken out with the bones,i_ lest suspicion should be roused. It was given out that only the skeleton of the painter had been discovered, and that 111 llie Piazza, this had been equally divided betweenCorreggio and Modena ; the skull, that is to say, to the ducal city,-the rest of the body to his native town. Creoles foolish and unworthy artifice has brought its own punish-ment in the discovery of the letters here reproduced. But even if rhcsc bones were i>laced under the monument erected to AUegri at Correggioin iSSo. - II. is still preserved in the R. Iiistituto di lielie Arli at ^[odena. Why is it not sentback and rei)laced in some tomb in the church of San Francesco?. THE HISTORY OF A SKULL these had never come to light, the fraud would have been exposed bythe anatomical examination of the skull, which shows it to have be-longed to a woman of advanced age.^ Such are the pitiless results ofcriticism, with its indiscreet insistence on proofs and verifications ! Butfor this merciless examination of facts, we should be admiring Cor-reggios lineaments in the face of a country priest, and reverencingthe skull of a toothless old woman as the shrine of his mighty genius!We are glad that our painters fellow-citizens took no part in this act ofdeceit and profanation. It would bea pity that even the slightest stainshould sully the history of their devo-tion. They watched with pride thedevelopment of his genius, gave himhis first commissions, secured thepeace of his last years, and stoutlyopposed the thief who substitutedcopies for his original works by theducal orders at a later date. Theyhonou
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Keywords: ., bookauthorriccicor, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookyear1896
