\paperw19995 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 This painting belongs to the series of JupiterÆs loves painted by Correggio toward the end of his career and based on the ta
le in OvidÆs \i Metamorphoses\i0 .\par
However Correggio did not limit his painting to a pictorial transposition of OvidÆs tale.\par
His original interpretation is daring: in a pure natural landscape, in which the only sign of civilization is an abando
ned amphora, the huge gray cloud in which the king of the gods and the lord of the universe has taken on material shape enfolds the body of Io in its deformity. The nymph, with a very feminine face, appears to delight in the godÆs attentions, to which s
he responds with an embrace.\par
IoÆs body is characterized by a musical, undulating, darting and sinuous line. Transparent shadows play over the flesh tones, mirroring the way that JupiterÆs cloud shifts in color from gray to violet. The enchantment
and immateriality of their union contrasts with the dark and barren solidity of the earth, whose coarseness is kept away from IoÆs body by the white sheet laid softly on the ground.
