and shot with arrows.

Behind the group stretches a bit of open country, and if we look
closely we can discern here two groups of small figures. One
represents the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, and the other, the
execution of St. Catherine. We may suppose that such gruesome subjects
were not the choice of the painter. It is probable that they were
dictated by his patrons, and in obeying orders he made the figures as
inconspicuous as possible.

IV

CEILING DECORATION IN THE SALA DEL PERGOLATO

(HALL OF THE VINE TRELLIS)

(S. Paolo, Parma)

In the time of Correggio the convent of S. Paolo (St. Paul) in Parma
was in charge of the abbess Giovanna da Piacenza, who had succeeded an
aunt in this office in 1507. She was a woman of liberal opinions, who
did not let the duties of her position entirely absorb her. She still
retained some social connections and was a patroness of art and
culture. The daughter of a nobleman, she was a person of consequence,
whose private apartments were such as a princess might have. Already a
well known painter of the day had decorated one of her rooms when she
heard of the rising artist Correggio. Probably advised by her relative
the Cavaliere Scipione Montino, she commissioned the young painter to
fresco a second room.

The decorative scheme he designed is very beautiful and elaborate. The
square ceiling is completely covered with a simulated trellis,
embowered in foliage and flowers, and pierced by oval windows through
which children are seen at play. A circle in the centre contains the
family arms of the abbess, a shield on which three crescent moons are
set diagonally. From this centre, as from the hub of a wheel, a
series of gilded ribs radiate towards the sides, cutting the whole
space into triangular sections whose surfaces are slightly hollowed.
The oval windows of the trellis open in these sections, one in each
triangle, and sixteen in all. Above every window hangs a bunch of
fruit, seemingly suspended from the centre by ribbons fancifully
braided about the ribs. The outer edge of the design, where the
ceiling joins the walls, is finished by a series of sixteen lunettes
or semicircles running around the square, one in each section. The
frieze around the side walls simulates a narrow scarf caught up in
festoons between ornamented capitals formed of rams' heads. The
remaining decoration of the room is on the cap of the chimney, and
represents the goddess Diana setting forth