883 



CORNWALLIS, LOUD. 



CORREGGIO, ANTONIO ALLEGRI. 



391 



In 1841 Cornelius was invited to Berlin by Frederic William IV. 

 to paint some frescoes in the Campo Santo. He set about the work 

 with his accustomed euergy. Before completing his cartoons he paid 

 a third visit to Rome, and there some of the designs were prepared. 

 They showed no falling-off in grandeur of conception, devotional feeling, 

 or profound knowledge of the resources and the limits of art. They 

 are well known by engravings, having been engraved iu eleven plates, 

 with the remarkable cartoon of the ' Four Horsemen ' of the Apocalypse 

 as a twelfth, by Thiiter, Leipz., 1848. Cornelius also superintended the 

 painting of the frescoes in the Berlin Museum, for which the cartoons had 

 been prepared by Schinkel. The design for the baptismal shield pre- 

 sented by the King of Prussia to the Prince of Wales, was likewise made 

 by Cornelius ; as well as numerous other designs for hia royal patron. 



Cornelius is undoubtedly one of the greatest painters of the age. His 

 works are on the largest scale, treat of the loftiest themes, and are 

 designed with a grandeur and beauty befitting their magnitude and ele- 

 vated aim. The mechanical execution of his works is often objected 

 to by critics, and he certainly treats it as of very inferior consequence. 

 Hia grand idea he seeks to evolve as strongly aa possible, and to that 

 he recklessly subordinates everything else. But his mind is so accus- 

 tomed to regard his subject from a subjective and symbolical point of 

 vj.-w, that his meaning is frequently somewhat difficult to perceive. 

 No one however suepoets that there is not a meaning, though it may 

 be somewhat deeply hidden ; and no one ha* studied the works of 

 Cornelius without finding in them abundant matter to recompense 

 the study. 



CORN \VALL1S, CHARLES, second Earl and first Marquis of Corn- 

 wallis, was born December 31, 1733, and educated at Eton, and St. 

 John's, Cambridge. In 1761, during the Seven Years' War, he served 

 abroad under the title of Lord Brootne, as aide-de-camp to the Marquis 

 of Granby. In 1702 he succeeded to the peerage on the death of his 

 father, in 1766 he was made colonel of the 33rd regiment of foot, and 

 in 1770 governor of the Tower. He was also aide-de-camp to the king, 

 who held him in high favour ; yet though a general supporter of the 

 administration, he exercised an independent judgment, and voted 

 against ministers on several important questions. More especially, he 

 was opposed to the steps which led to the American war ; but when 

 his regiment was ordered abroad in 1776, he sailed with it, declining 

 to profit by the special leave of absence obtained from the king. He 

 served actively and with distinction, with the rank of major-general, 

 under generals Howe and Clinton, in the campaigns of 1776-79 in New 

 York and the southern states, and in 1780 was left in the command 

 of South Carolina with 1000 men. He gained a victory over General 

 Gates at Camden, August 16, 1780, and a second, less decisive, over 

 General Greene at Guilford, March 15, 1781 both against superior 

 numbers. But the hostility of the population rendered these advan- 

 tages transient. In the course of the spring of 1781 Cornwallis 

 invaded Virginia, where he obtained no decided success, but caused 

 an immense amount of damage to private property. On receiving 

 orders from Sir H. Clinton, then at New York, to embark part of his 

 forces for New York, he moved to Portsmouth iu Virginia ; but here 

 he received fresh instructions, under which he was ordered to Williams- 

 bnrg, the colonial capital of Virginia, and directed to make Point 

 Comfort his place of arms. But Poiut Comfort being found ill-suited 

 for this purpose, Cornwallis moved to York Town on York River, 

 where he entrenched himself iu the strongest way he could. He 

 was there besieged by the French and American forces, assisted by 

 the French fleet under De Grasse, and reduced to surrender himeelf 

 and his troops prisoners of war, after an obstinate defence, October 19, 

 1781. Hii capture was a death-blow to the British cause, and prin- 

 cipally led to that change of ministers and measures which resulted 

 in the peace of 1782 : Cornwallis himself however, owing perhaps to 

 his favour with the king, escaped censure. 



In 1786 Lord Cornwallis was appointed governor-general and com- 

 nmnder-in-chief of Bengal. His temper being mild and equitable, and 

 hU application to business constant and effective, he was honourably 

 distinguished by a sincere desire to promote the welfare of our Indian 

 subjects, and introduced a variety of internal changes, which were 

 characterised by a great unfitness for the purpose they were intended 

 to serve. His administration is chiefly remarkable for the war under- 

 taken against Tippoo Saib [TlPPOO.] The disasters experienced at 

 first by the English cauved the governor to take the field himself, in 

 1791 ; and by a change in the quarter of attack, he succeeded in 

 penetrating to the heart of Tippoo's dominions, and captured Btiuga- 

 lore in March. In the following February siege was laid to Seringa- 

 patam, and the capture of that city was averted only by a treaty, 

 which stripped the sultan of half of his dominions. In August 1793 

 Lord Cornwallis returned to England, where he waa received with 

 distinguished honours, raised to the rank of marquis, and appointed 

 master general of the ordnance. In 1793 (the era of the rebellion) he 

 was made lord-lieutenant of Ireland. In the distracted state of that 

 country, a man of generous and conciliatory temper was even more 

 I than one of military skill. He put down the rebellion: but 

 he alto checked the disgraceful outrages practised by the supporters 

 of government, restored tranquillity, and acquired the good-will of the 

 Irish. In 1801 he was succeeded by Lord Hardwicke; and in the 

 aino year, being appointed plenipotentiary to France, ho negociated 

 the pence of Amiens. He was re-appoiute J governor-general of India 



Bioo. mv. VOL. ii. 



in 1805, and arrived at Calcutta iu August, in bad health. Pro- 

 ceeding immediately to assume the command of the army in the 

 upper provinces, he was seized with illness, and died at Ghazapore, in 

 the province of Benares, October 5, 1805. His character as a soldier 

 and statesman was highly respectable ; but he was more distinguished 

 by diligence, humanity, and integrity, than by the higher mental 

 qualities. 



COKRADI, DOMENICO. [GHIRLANDAIO.] 



CORRE'GGIO, ANTO'NIO ALLE'GRI, or, as he has beeu known 

 to write it, LIE'TO, one of the first of painters, surnaraed Cor- 

 reggio from the place of his birth, a small town iu the duchy of 

 Modena, was born towards the end of the year 1493, or early in 

 1494. Correggio's life is involved in impenetrable obscurity. The 

 only authentic records which exist are certain registered documents, 

 public and private ; but they serve only to throw a very feeble light 

 upon his domestic life; our knowledge of it remains of a negative 

 character. Some of his biographer*, at the head of whom is Vasari, 

 describe him as of humble origin, indigent, and penurious in his way 

 of living; others like Mengs and Ratti draw his^ descent from a noble 

 family of Correggio, once feudal lords of Campaguola and its castle 

 iu the Corregese. The truth appears to be that the Allegri family, 

 from which Antonio descended, were a decent family of Correggio, 

 while the conveyance and bequest of considerable property, including 

 money, houses, and small portions of land, are too frequent among 

 Antonio's immediate relations, to leave any doubt of his having beeu 

 at least in easy circumstances. The statement of his having received 

 very small sums for his pictures is also disproved by documentary 

 evidence. 



It is uncertain who was Correggio's first instructor. Francesco 

 Bianchi, Lombardi, Tonino Bartolotto, and his uncle Lorenzo have 

 been severally named as his instructors in the elements of his art ; 

 and it is added by some that he afterwards studied under the sous of 

 Mantegna. M&utegna himself even has been supposed to be his first 

 master; but the fact of Mantegna having died in 1506, when Correggio 

 was barely twelve years old, renders it very improbable. In Mantegua'a 

 works however we may recognise the germ of that sweet and graceful 

 style which Correggio carried to perfection. Tliat Correggio ever went 

 to Rome is far fiom probable, since a continued series of documents 

 prove him to have been habitually residing in Correggio at the time 

 when some writers have supposed he visited Rome. If he ever went 

 there it must have been for a mere visit. The mastery with which ha 

 treats classical subjects, has given rise to the supposition that he 

 received a liberal education, and there is no proof to the contrary. It 

 is certain also that his works display a considerable knowledge of 

 architecture ; but that he practised that art, or sculpture, as some of 

 his biographers have asserted, is entirely without proof. Correggio 

 married, iu 1520, Girolama Merliui, of a wealthy family in Mantua, 

 and by her had a son and three daughters. Sbe is said to have been 

 the criginal in his picture of the Holy Family, known as ' La Zinga- 

 rella.' The supposition that he married a second time probably aroso 

 from a mistake in a certain register, iu which his wife's Christian name 

 is misstated. He died on the Sth of March 1534, and was buried in 

 the church of St. Francis at Correggio. 



Correggio is one of the most original of painters, as well as one of 

 the greatest of colourists. He formed a style completely his own, 

 remarkable for masterly chiaroscuro, exquisite colouring, and the most 

 graceful design. Less varied and decided iu his outline than the 

 painters of the Roman and Florentine schools, he in more anxious to 

 dispose his lines in ensy flowing curves than to display knowledge of 

 anatomy or powerful drawing. Nevertheless, his forms are sufficiently 

 correct, and the consummate skill shown in his endless foreshorteuings 

 proves that his smoother style of drawing was dictated by no want of 

 stud/ or deficiency of ability. While Titian's colouring is bolder, 

 more varied, and more powerful than Correggio's, it is not so full of 

 beauty and a certain mild and rich luxuriousnes's. There is the same 

 difference between the two that there is between a bed of glowing 

 flowers and a pulpy cluster of grapes laughing from under the vine- 

 leaves. More studied in hia use of light and shade than any of his 

 brother painters, he gives to his pictures an air of space which mocks 

 the limits of the frame ; a depth and unity, the force of which Rem- 

 brandt alone has exceeded, and no one else approached ; but the 

 Flemish painter's sun never shines upon forms like the Italian's it is 

 mostly a "god kissing carrion." The expression which Correggio 

 infuses into the lovely creations of his pencil is in harmouy with the 

 grace of his drawing, the pure sweet colouring, and the concordant 

 tone of the picture. Avoiding harsh and unpleasant subjects, and 

 delighting in the play of tender and voluptuous emotions, his mothers 

 fondle their offspring, his children frolic and smile, his lovers pant and 

 si^h, with all the ecstacy of unreproved nature. If his beings are of a 

 less mighty mould than Michel Angelo's. his colour less powerful in 

 its tints, and his expression less passionate than Titian's, and if his 

 design be less perfect and less exalted than Raffaelle's, no artist has 

 equalled him in gentleness and sweetness, and none calls forth the 

 affections of the spectator in a more lively manner. 



Correggio'a pictures are not so numerous as those of some painters ; 

 but they are sufficiently spread over Europe for his style ami fanio to 

 be universally recognised. The. cupola of the cathedral at Parma is 

 paiuted with" an 'Assumption of the Virgin' iu fresco, of which the 



