Allegory of Virtues

Correggio's Allegory of Virtues from around 1531 was painted for Isabella d'Este's famous studiolo in the Ducal Palace of Mantua. The commission to decorate this celebrated private gallery, previously adorned by Mantegna and Perugino, was a mark of the highest esteem for Correggio's abilities. Oil on canvas — by the sixteenth century the dominant medium for ambitious works — allowed successive glazes of transparent color and freedom to rework the composition.

The allegorical figures are rendered with Correggio's characteristic grace and luminosity, their soft, flowing forms and atmospheric setting creating an effect of poetic idealization suited to the studiolo's intellectual program.