Agony in the Garden (Correggio)

History

The painting, now in poor condition, was once praised by Vasari while he was in Reggio Emilia. A print by Bernardino Curti and a later copy in the National Gallery back up his account. During the 1580s, it belonged to Rodolfo Signoretti in Reggio Emilia, where artists including Titian, El Greco, and Annibale Carracci studied it. By 1582, word of the work had spread to Spain and Rome, and both King Philip II and Alfonso II d'Este tried to purchase it without success. Around 1587, the Milanese nobleman Pirro Visconti bought it and moved it to his villa in Lainate. Giulio Campi later made a copy now housed in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. The painting eventually went to Spain, where it was admired by Anton Raphael Mengs. King Ferdinand VII later gave it to the Duke of Wellington as a reward for his service in the Peninsular War.