Entrance to the monastery. Correggio, Camera di San Paolo, Parma 02

San Paolo is a former

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

in central

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

, northern Italy. It is best known for housing the ''

Camera di San Paolo 250px, Overview of the vault frescoes. 250px, Coat of arms of abbess Giovanna. 250px, The fresco of Diana in the fireplace. The ''Camera di San Paolo'' (Italian: "Chamber of St. Paul) or ''Camera della Badessa'' (Italian: "Abbess' Chamber") is ...

'' (Chamber of St Paul), decorated by a masterpiece of fresco work (1519) by

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

History

Tradition holds that the monastery was erected on the spot where Godescalco, the son-in-law of the Lombard king

Agilulf Agilulf ( 555 – April 616), called ''the Thuringian'' and nicknamed ''Ago'', was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death. A relative of his predecessor Authari, Agilulf was of Thuringian origin and belonged to the An ...

, converted to Christianity and took the name Paolo. Supposedly he endowed the convent after his young wife had died during childbirth between 599 and 602. However, documents speak of a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

convent, one of nearly a handful in Parma, present around the year 1000, and it was adjacent to the former and contemporary church of San Ludovico, now also deconsecrated. The convent mainly admitted women from aristocratic or wealthy lineage. It was to this monastery that

Margherita Farnese Margherita Farnese (7 November 1567 – 13 April 1643), was an Italian noblewoman member of the House of Farnese and by marriage Hereditary Princess of Mantua during 1581–1583. Her marriage with the heir of the Duchy of Mantua was annulled af ...

(1567–1643), daughter of the Duke of Parma and great-granddaughter of

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

, was admitted after the failure and annulment (1583) of her marriage (1581) with

Vincenzo II Gonzaga Vincenzo II Gonzaga (7 January 1594 – 25 December 1627) was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1626 until his death. Vincenzo was the son of Duke Vincent I and Eleonora de' Medici and inherited the duchy upon the death of his elder ...

, the heir to the Duchy of

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

. By 1767, the monastery only held about eighty nuns or candidates, after the arrival of Napoleonic rule in 1810, the monastery was suppressed. The convent came into the management of the comune.

Camera di San Paolo (Chamber of St Paul)

In February to September 1519,

was commissioned by the Abbess Giovanna Piacenza to decorate the domed ceiling of her private room, now called the ''Camera di San Paolo'' or ''Camera della Badessa''. He painted between the ribs to simulate a

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

, pierced by ovals (small windows) with smiling puttoes and hunting representations. Below the oculi are lunettes with monochromic scenes painted to simulate marble. The fireplace is frescoed with a depiction of the goddess Diana. Apart from its mastery of style and "delightful vivacity", the Correggio frescoes have spurred a debate as to the underlying significance of the iconography, in part debating the significance of pagan and hunting scenes for a nunnery. The convent was known for the laxity of its rules, and had been embroiled, along with the abbess in various local land disputes.C. Ricci page 154-158. Critics including Roberto Longhi and Erwin Panofsky have dedicated monographs to the subject. The private room of the abbess was frescoed (1514) by

Alessandro Araldi Alessandro Araldi (c. 1460 – c. 1529) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma. Little is known of his biography. He apparently assisted with contemporary Cristoforo Caselli (il Temperello). His work shows the inf ...

with grotteschi. The monastery contains a chapel of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria frescoed with scenes of her life also by Araldi. The rooms are open to the public as a museum.

Pinacoteca Stuard

In 2002, a wing of the monastery was converted into the Pinacoteca Stuard. This collection was left to the Congregation of Charity by Giuseppe Stuard (Parma, 1790-1834), administrator of the Congregation of San Filippo Neri and wealthy collector. Over three hundred paintings from the 14th-century to the last century is displayed in various rooms. It includes works by

Bernardo Daddi Bernardo Daddi ( 1280 – 1348) was an early Italian Renaissance painter and the leading painter of Florence of his generation. He was one of the artists who contributed to the revolutionary art of the Renaissance, which broke away from the conven ...

;

Paolo di Giovanni Fei Paolo di Giovanni Fei (c. 1345 – c. 1411) was a painter of the Sienese school. He came to Siena from San Quirico, , held public positions in Siena from 1369 and was first mentioned in the Sienese register of painters in 1389. His earliest si ...

; Maestro della Misericordia;

Bicci di Lorenzo Bicci di Lorenzo (1373–1452) was an Italian painter and sculptor, active in Florence. He was born in Florence in 1373, the son of the painter, Lorenzo di Bicci, whose workshop he joined. He married in 1418, and in 1424 was registered in the Gui ...

;

Niccolò di Tommaso Niccolò di Tommaso (active 1346–1376) was an Italian painter active in Florence, Naples and Pistoia. He is documented as joining the Arte dei Medici e Speziali around 1346. He shows the influence of Maso di Banco, but worked with Nardo di Cion ...

; and schools of Pietro di Giovanni di Ambrogio,

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italians, Italian (Florentine) Florentine painting, painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. ...

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. Biography Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...

, and

Parmigianino Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bo ...

. Later works were by

Sebastiano Ricci Sebastiano Ricci (1 August 165915 May 1734) was an Italian painter of the late Baroque school of Venice. About the same age as Piazzetta, and an elder contemporary of Tiepolo, he represents a late version of the vigorous and luminous Cortonesqu ...

Bartolomeo Schedoni Bartolomeo Schedoni (sometimes Schedone) (1578 – 23 December 1615) was an Italian early Baroque painter from Modena. Biography He was born in Modena, and moved to Parma with his father, a mask-maker who served the Farnese court. In 1595 Schedo ...

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious ...

Giovanni Lanfranco Giovanni Lanfranco (26 January 1582 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Biography Giovanni Gaspare Lanfranco was born in Parma, the third son of Stefano and Cornelia Lanfranchi, and was placed as a page in the ho ...

Bernardo Bellotto Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was ...

Lodewijk Toeput Lodewijk Toeput, called il Pozzoserrato (c. 1540/1550 – between 1603 and 1605)Teréz Gerszi, ''The Draughtsmanship of Lodewijk Toeput'', Master Drawings Vol. 30, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 367-395Anthony Mor, Enrico Bandini, and Giovanni Gaibazzi. The City has included archeologic items in the museum.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control

Paolo Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art *Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American s ...

Art museums established in 2002 Art museums and galleries in Emilia-Romagna Monasteries in Emilia-Romagna 2002 establishments in Italy