Schiavone drew inspiration from the great artist from Emilia-Romagna for his own fi gurative models, and above all for a form of pictorial drawing that “is a fundamental aspect of his contribution to the history of Venetian painting”. Meldola’s pictorial drawings stand out for their quality and freshness, but Andrea also reaches an absolute apex with his prints, revealing a true passion that is to remain throughout his life (almost manic-like in numerous variations, reworkings, his search for precision), developing his research in this fi eld along with that of painting, using the drypoint and the engraving in an amazing fashion and creating around 150 subjects in various states.

Schiavone’s drawings – the inspiration of which came not only from Parmigianino but also from numerous artists from the Veneto and Central Italy – is without a doubt a ‘key moment in the history of Venetian drawing and the Renaissance in Venice’, and the corpus of drawings, engravings and prints on display on this exceptional occasion at the Correr Museum will reveal the magic of an incomparable, unique touch.

First and foremost, the Abduction of Helen: an etching on loan from the British Museum together with 13 other important works by the artist, the only work by Schiavone that is signed and dated, 1547 (the only certain date we have about the painter’s life, as well as the date of his death), and in a manner of speaking a ‘manifesto’ of the artist’s awareness that he was drawing on and ‘copying’ great artists whilst reinterpreting and transforming them.