Correggio

The works of Antonio Allegri, known by the name of his birth city of Correggio, have fascinated viewers for 500 years. Their sensuality, illumination, bright colouration and lively expression lend them a presence that continues to astonish us today. The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections, SKD) are now presenting the first large retrospective outside of Italy on the oeuvre of the Italian painter, an extraordinary highlight in the international calendar of this year’s cultural events.

Alongside Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo, Correggio is a key figure of sixteenth-century Italian painting. Today, however, he is not generally well known. The Dresden exhibition Correggio. Movingly Human (19 Sep 2026–10 Jan 2027) would like to change this and the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery) is the ideal place to do so: With a total of four of the largest panel paintings by Correggio, it holds the most extensive collection of altar paintings by his hand in the world, which provide viewers with impressive insights into his artistic development.

Proceeding from this unique treasure trove, the exhibition focusses on Correggio’s masterful depiction of emotions. His works are “movingly human” – even when they show Christian saints or ancient deities. The lively expressions and gestures of his figures still speak to us today: As viewers, we feel what they feel. 

In seven sections, the exhibition offers a comprehensive panorama of Correggio’s creative work, allowing us to observe the different facets and phases of his work. Some 130 first-rate objects are on view, including twenty paintings and twenty drawings by the artist himself. Paintings by his contemporaries as well as by artists who were inspired by him – including Parmigianino, Peter Paul Rubens, Carlo Maratti and Anton Raphael Mengs – complement the presentation and underscore the impressive reach of his art. 

The loans to the exhibition come from international museums such as the Prado in Madrid, the National Gallery in London, the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the Uffizi in Florence and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is a very fortunate circumstance that not one but two major works are coming to Dresden from the Louvre: Alongside Venus and Cupid with a Satyr (c. 1526/1528), Correggio’s Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (c. 1525/1527) will be on show – a painting that has never been shown outside the Paris museum since it entered the collection.

Another exciting highlight of the presentation is Correggio’s Madonna of Saint Sebastian (c. 1524). Over the past few years, the panel painting was restored in a publicly viewable studio at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. After the work was extensively examined and stabilized, with some sections filled and losses retouched, it regained the original radiance of its colours, showcasing Correggio as a master of colour and light. A whole section of the exhibition is dedicated to the restoration of the work, including the analysis of its painting layers.

A further high point in the exhibition is Correggio’s The Holy Night (c. 1528/30). In the eighteenth century, the monumental altarpiece was considered the most significant work in Dresden’s collection of paintings. It will be shown with other works in which Correggio was exploring effects of light and darkness, as well as with works by other artists who bear witness to the broad influence of Correggio’s most famous painting on the history of art. 

Correggio’s superb frescoes in various places in Parma are a significant part of his artistic oeuvre and must not be overlooked in a retrospective, even though they are bound to their location. With this in mind, the SKD have created a complete photographic survey of them using a drone at the San Giovanni Evangelista church as well as the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. The images were assembled as a digital 3D-model shown in the exhibition as a projection. The public can thus experience the domed frescoes in a spectacular manner, coming closer to them than ever before.

The Education and Outreach Programme for the exhibition includes not only tours and live conversations about the art but also a lecture by Prof. Dr. David Ekserdjian, the most recognized Correggio expert worldwide, on 21 September 2026. For those who, inspired by the works of Correggio, would like to get creative themselves, a workshop is being offered which provides an introduction to oil painting. During Advent, a family programme entitled “Engel, Licht und Heilige Nacht” (Angels, Light and Holy Night) will help set the mood for the holidays. 

Supporting Correggio. Movingly Human, the exhibition Fühlst du’s? (Do you feel it?) will be on show at the Semper-Kabinett of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister beginning on 20 September 2026. It is dedicated to the subject of emotions, focussing our attention on feelings as an entry point into art. It has been curated in collaboration with students from the Universitätsschule Dresden and is primarily tailored to children and youth. The opening will take place on Saturday, 19 September 2026, 6 pm at Café Algarotti in the Semper Building, with students present. The press are cordially invited. We kindly ask that you register here: presse(at)skd.museum.

The catalogue for the exhibition Correggio. Movingly Human is edited by the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and published by Sandstein Kultur in German and English. It comprises approximately 448 pages. If purchased at the museum, the price is €38, or €50 from other booksellers; ISBN: 978-3-95498-934-8.

Exhibition runtime: 19 September 2026 to 10 January 2027, Semperbau am Zwinger

Hours: daily 10 am—5 pm, closed Mondays

Special opening hours during Advent:

27 November to 30 December 2026: Friday to Sunday 10 am—6 pm

Tickets:

Timeticket for the special exhibition: adult ticket €14, reduced €10,50, pupils (under 20) €2, children under school age free 
Combiticket (time-specific ticket for the special exhibition and all other areas of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister): adult ticket €23, reduced €17,50, pupils (under 20) €4, children under school age free

to the exhibition