Current knowledge

Antonio da Correggio

Venus with Mercury and Cupid ('The School of Love')

© The National Gallery, London NG 10
Current measurements: 
155cm x 91cm
Date: 
c.1525

Correggio’s amorous education was also one of the most expensive pictures at the Sale, valued at £800. It forms a pagan counterpoint to Raphael’s La Perla, both exemplifying the room’s theme of family and upbringing.

It came from the Mantua sale and along with the two previous works makes the wall – even for such a rich collection – an exceptional exhibition of Renaissance painterly opulence.

Sale Inventory c.1649-51
Walpole Society reference (1972):