Camera di San Paolo
San Paolo was one of many well-endowed convents where women of means who for one reason or another could not marry spent their lives in relative comfort. When, around 1519, the cultured abbess Giovanna di Piacenza wanted to fresco her private dining room, she had the means to hire Correggio, who presented her with vivid mythological scenes, cherubs, astrological references, and an image of Diana, goddess of the hunt. The subject matter may well have been a conversation piece for the intellectuals who frequently gathered at the abbess’s table, though the meaning of the delightful representations remains a mystery. What is known is that church authorities later sealed off the chamber, considering the absence of religious subjects and the presence of so many bare-bottomed putti to be profane.
San Paolo was one of many well-endowed convents where women of means who for one reason or another could not marry spent their lives in relative comfort. When, around 1519, the cultured abbess Giovanna di Piacenza wanted to fresco her private dining room, she had the means to hire Correggio, who presented her with vivid mythological scenes, cherubs, astrological references, and an image of Diana, goddess of the hunt. The subject matter may well have been a conversation piece for the intellectuals who frequently gathered at the abbess’s table, though the meaning of the delightful representations remains a mystery. What is known is that church authorities later sealed off the chamber, considering the absence of religious subjects and the presence of so many bare-bottomed putti to be profane.
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