On Correggio, frames, and the borders of the Renaissance image

In 1530, Antonio Allegri, better known as Correggio, brought to completion an altarpiece featuring the rest on the return from Egypt, a work traditionally identified as the Madonna della Scodella in reference to the bowl (scodella) that the Madonna holds in her right hand (fig. 1). Painted for a Parmese confraternity of lay individuals devoted to Saint Joseph, this picture was considered by Giorgio Vasari to be “a divine example of a panel painting” and hence a model to be studied. The image’s combined registers of sacred and domestic moments shaped an experience of proximity to the divine for the local community. An unusually mature Christ child stands between the Virgin and Saint Joseph with his back to the viewer and slightly off-center, connecting his parents through his outstretched arms. His gesture simultaneously reminds us of his ultimate destiny and empowers the diagonal structure of the composition. On the right, Joseph has placed one foot on a ledge to reach the dates hanging from a palm tree, passing them with a downward gesture to Jesus. Underlined by a beam of light, his dynamic actions are registered in the folds of his orange cloak as if an electric charge has passed through them. Joseph’s animation and towering position in the image has brought him closer to heaven, where frolicking angels seem about to collide with the saint. His virility and athletic prowess, unusual for representations of Joseph, who is often depicted as a retiring elderly figure, contrast with the calm attitude of the smiling Virgin Mary seated on rocky ground. The altarpiece is enclosed within its original monumental gilded wooden frame designed to evoke a triumphal arch. Its architecture comprises a massive base, fluted columns, an elegant frieze, and a cornice of equal proportion to the base, and it defines and vertically orients the painted subject. The inscription on the central plaque of the base bears the date 1530 and celebrates the Parmese devotees’