1524: Correggio, Parmigianino, Lotto and the Melancholy of Sacred Hunting in Italian Courts

The article explores the interconnected artistic and intellectual currents in Italian courts around 1524, focusing on Correggio's frescoes for Giovanna Piacenza at the Benedictine convent of Parma, Parmigianino's Diana and Actaeon at Fontanellato, and Lorenzo Lotto's Suardi oratory in Trescore. The author argues that these works share a theme of sacred hunting (sacra venatio) as a metaphor for the search for God, promoted by Cardinal Egidio da Viterbo. The motto 'IGNEM NE GLADIO FODIAS' (do not stir the fire with a sword) in Correggio's fireplace is interpreted as an invitation to seek divine light with humility. Lotto's self-portrait as a hunter beneath the melancholic prophet Ezekiel and a sibyl connects hunting to melancholy, a theme also present in Dürer's Melencolia I (1514) and Michelangelo's works. The article contextualizes these works within the political and religious turmoil of the time, including the Lutheran Reformation, the Ottoman threat, and the patronage of the Farnese family. It notes that 1524 was also the year of Giulia Farnese's death, linking her scandalous relationship with Pope Alexander VI to the rise of the Farnese. The author suggests that the sacred hunting theme may have spread from Egidio da Viterbo's circle to Parma and Fontanellato, facilitated by Alessandro Farnese's bishopric. The article ends with a reflection on the melancholic path to divine illumination, as embodied by Dürer's angel and Michelangelo's Lorenzo de' Medici.