History
One of the artist's last Madonnas, the painting was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1512 in honor of his late uncle, Pope Sixtus IV, as an altarpiece for the Benedictine basilica of the Monastery of San Sisto in Piacenza, a church with which the Rovere family had a long-standing relationship. It was their requirement that the image contain both Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara. Legend has it that when Antonio da Correggio first laid eyes on the piece, he was inspired to cry, "And I also, I am a painter!"
Read more about this topic: Sistine Madonna
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The History of the world is not the theatre of happiness. Periods of happiness are blank pages in it, for they are periods of harmony—periods when the antithesis is in abeyance.”
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“Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.”
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