Parma, Emilia-Romagna: Head of Christ Excites Correggio in Parma Exhibition

PARMA, Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio after his birthplace, never enjoyed the fame of Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci. But art critics have placed him among the great masters of Italy's 16th century.

Antonio Allegri was born around 1490 in Correggio and then lived in nearby Parma, where he died in 1534.

Now an Italian exhibition in Parma, Mostra Corregio in Parma aims to increase awareness of Correggio's achievements.

Art fans and tourists to Parma until January 25, 2009 may stroll among the Galleria Nazionale, Camera di Sao Paolo, Chiesa di San Giovanni, and Cattedrale.

Inside Parma's Cathedral scaffolding allows visitors to climb into the dome to see Assumption of the Virgin, Correggio's masterpiece gleaming golden infinite sky.

Parma's elegant streets and sophisticated caffe's are buzzing with news that The Head of Christ inside the Parma's Galleria Nazionale fine art museum has turned typical polite discourse sour due to the controversy now surrounding the origins of the painting Head of Christ.

Is it a genuine Correggio, an old copy, or a forgery?

Go see the Mostra Correggio in Parma exhibition if you are traveling in Italy between now and January 25, 2009.

Report back your opinion on the Head of Christ by "Correggio-?" as it was recently labeled.

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