Correggio’s Shadowy ‘The Holy Night’ Casts a Bright Light

This painting of the Adoration was the first monumental Italian nocturne piece.

A detail of "The Holy Night," circa 1528–1530, by Antonio da Correggio. Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany. Public Domain

Correggio (1489–1534), though not as well-known today as his peers Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian, was a profoundly influential Italian Renaissance artist. His narrative works are marked by luminous lighting effects, intense emotion, and pioneering original interpretations. Scholars rank him alongside the most illustrious artists of his era.

One of Correggio’s most acclaimed oil paintings is “The Holy Night,” referred to sometimes as “Adoration of the Shepherds” or “The Night.” Housed now in Dresden, Germany’s Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, it is the first monumental nocturne in Italian painting.

Illustrious Illustrator

Correggio was born Antonio Allegri in the town of Correggio, hence his name, near the city of Parma in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Art historians believe that he trained in Mantua, perhaps under the great Andrea Mantegna (circa 1431–1506). Mantegna’s influence can be seen in Correggio’s work, along with that of Leonardo, Venetian painting, and Rome’s examples of the oeuvres of Michelangelo and Raphael.