Correggio, 'Christ taking Leave of his Mother', probably before 1514

This is one of Correggio’s most impressive early paintings, dating from about 1512 when he was about 23 years old. He probably made it for someone’s home. Christ kneels before his mother to ask for her blessing as he prepares to leave and follow his destiny. He is robed in white against the blueish landscape, his pose conveying a sense of delicacy and stillness. The Virgin Mary swoons, her face and hands drained of colour – she knows that her son is leaving to go to his certain death. She falls into the arms of her companion, who is probably one of the Three Marys, who supported the Virgin during the Passion. Saint John the Evangelist stands behind Christ, wringing his hands in grief.

The subject does not figure in any of the Gospels and is rare in Italian Renaissance paintings. However, it was common at this time in German paintings and engravings. Although Correggio would not have known it, the other notable representation of this subject in the National Gallery’s collection is by the German artist Albrecht Altdorfer, painted in about 1520. Correggio’s choice of this subject reveals his interest in Northern art even as a young painter. His ‘Ecce Homo’ of about 1525–30 is influenced by Dürer’s Passion engravings, showing that this interest continued as Correggio matured as an artist. Correggio’s paintings are particularly known for their portrayal of intense or tender emotion and their power to awake an emotional response in the viewer, which may be why he was drawn to German art.

This is possibly the first time that Correggio painted on canvas rather than wooden panel. He has exploited the possibilities of slow-drying, blendable oil paint on this surface to create the misty effects in the landscape. The blue and mauve robes of the Virgin are echoed in the colours of the evening sky, and the browns and yellows of the architecture are picked up in the robes of Saint John and the female companion.

Correggio has divided the setting in two with an Ionic column, which runs up the centre of the composition. He has painted the Virgin and her companion before the enclosing architecture on the right and Christ kneeling in front of the open landscape on the left, indicating his imminent journey out into the world. However, Correggio did not always plan the picture to look like this.

X-ray images reveal that he began a different version but then abandoned it. Originally Christ was to be shown standing on the right rather than kneeling on the left, and another holy woman was to be included. Christ standing and blessing the Virgin is another tradition common in German religious art, which Correggio might have known through prints by Dürer. Correggio then turned the canvas upside down and started again – perhaps so as not to be distracted by his first attempt, as it does not appear that he blanked it out before painting over it. He then repainted the picture to show Christ kneeling and seeking his mother’s blessing.