The Assumption of the Virgin

The Assumption of the Virgin is a fresco completed by Correggio for the interior of the dome of the Cathedral of Parma, Italy. Correggio signed the agreement to complete the work in 1522, but it was not completed until 1530, eight years later. His time was well spent, as the Assumption is a masterpiece of di sotto in su ceiling painting. Correggio used di sotto in su, the practice of foreshortening the painting in order to make it lengthen the canvas, in an audacious and exemplary fashion. The apostles and the clouds seem to float upward on layers as the figure of Christ descends from the heavens.

Duomo di Parma (Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta), Parma, Italy