Camera di San Paolo

The old Benedictine convent of San Paolo is located behind the Chiesa di San Ludovico (today you can see its recently recuperated small oratory or Sacello which dates back to around the 10th Century) on Via... More »

The old Benedictine convent of San Paolo is located behind the Chiesa di San Ludovico (today you can see its recently recuperated small oratory or Sacello which dates back to around the 10th Century) on Via Melloni. The entrance (which is not the original) takes visitors immediately (in reverse order) into the two single rooms which belonged to the abbess. The two communicating rooms were decorated with frescoes when Giovanna da Piacenza was abbess and are the work of Alessandro Araldi (1514), and Correggio who completed them in 1519. Araldi's frescoes are very close to Roman art of the period, and show sacred and secular scenes. Araldi's work includes the candelabra decorations on the blue background of the vault, surrounded by tondi, panels and lunettes decorated with scenes from the Old and New Testament. The room painted for the abbess Giovanna is the work of Correggio, who introduced the new pictorial language of Humanism to Parma.