... and, throughout the region
The painter of light, the master of figures in the sky with soft and delicate tones of light and shade, an artist capable of influencing artistic trends of different styles: this is Antonio Allegri, better known as Corregio.
Celebrated and esteemed in the courts of the Po Valley, the great maestro worked during the first part of the Fifteenth Century at the same time as several other artists, who took their inspiration from him for the creation of huge pictorial cycles, inside the great castles of the Parmesan Renaissance.
This is why the great exhibition dedicated to Correggio and the revisiting of the city’s beautifully illuminated domes, is an occasion to also appreciate the surrounding territory, the Province of Parma with its castles, its Ducal courts and palaces and its renowned culinary tradition.
An itinerary of seven sights interlaced with art and history will be a backdrop for concerts, literary events and art workshops until Spring 2009. The frescoed halls of the “Asino d’Oro” and “Imperatori” in the Rocca dei Rossi in San Secondo which have been fully restored for the occasion and will be enhanced by specially installed lighting.
A contemporary of Correggio was Michelangelo Anselmi, who painted the Cappella con I Dottori della Chiesa in the collegiate Church of San Bartolomeo in Busseto, where maintenance and restoration work will be carried out.
The main features of the itinerary will be the different pictorial periods, the narrated stories and even the visitors themselves being part of the journey: through music, words and sounds, the special and magical atmosphere of the Parmesan Castles will come back “to life”, the ancient rooms will live again with the sounds of the past, particularly those of the period in which Correggio worked in Parma.
Authentic sound installations in the Castle of Fontanellato will take place the enchantment of the mirror in the curious optical chamber, the pictures in the famous room dedicated to Diana and Atteone will speak, in Sala Baganza we will celebrate the verses of Tasso, in Torrechiara, in the Camera d’Oro, the voices and laughter of Bianca as she awakes, of her morning “toilette” and of her dressing in her boudoir, up to the story of the Metamorphosis of Apuleio in the Rossi Castle in San Secondo.
Those who want to relive the life of the court, the pomp and circumstance typical of the nobility’s palaces, should visit the Rocca di Soragna, rich in famous paintings such as those by Niccolò dell’Abate, a celebrated modenese painter from nearby Modena who also worked in Fointanebleu in France.
In addition, for younger children a special project has been conceived, in a very precious setting: the Castle of Montechiarugolo will be, until Spring, a castle “with a view” to see and understand the landscape represented from the Renaissance up to today.
After a guided tour, the castle will become animated with the excitement of boys and girls who want to interpret the landscape in their own way…beginning in the beautiful loggia which opens onto a wide panorama of the valley of the River Enza.
From the “camera obscura” for perspective up to modern photographic methods, the classes will also be able to have fun with charcoal, watercolours, and collage.
For those who wish, there will be workshops of fresco painting available for both adults and for classes of children, at the castles of Fontanellato, Sala Baganza and Torrechiara, aimed at introducing the public at large to the art of frescos and the problems concerning restoration of large painted surfaces.
For information about the itineraries of the visits and the other events visit Parma Turismi
Strada della Repubblica, 45 _ Parma
Tel. 0521 228152
info@parmaturismi.it
www.turismo.parma.it
www.mostracorreggioparma.it
