No other artist in early sixteenth-century Parma seems to have inspired as much imitation as Correggio, yet the preparatory drawings for his major works remain rare and highly prized. Study for the ‘Madonna della Scodella’ (recto) offers a precious glimpse into the artist’s working process for one of his most beloved altarpieces. Unlike the finished Madonna della Scodella, which has hung in Parma’s Pinacoteca since the eighteenth century, this study survives as a testament to the artist’s hand, revealing the first thoughts and compositional hesitations behind the celebrated image. The scene captures the Holy Family’s rest on the Flight into Egypt, a moment recounted in the apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew.

Here, the Virgin receives a bowl—la scodella—of miraculous water from the Christ Child, while Joseph gathers dates from a palm bent by an angel. In the study, Correggio’s loose, searching lines map out the gentle tilt of Mary’s head and the tender exchange between mother and child. The focus on gesture and intimacy, rather than grand narrative, sets Correggio apart from contemporaries like Raphael, whose own Holy Family compositions often emphasize stately calm over familial warmth. The precise date and medium of this drawing remain uncertain, as does its early provenance.

Scholars believe it was created during Correggio’s maturity, around the time he was executing major commissions for Parma’s churches. Surviving studies such as this one are crucial for understanding the artist’s method, as few of his preparatory works have come down to us. Today, Study for the ‘Madonna della Scodella’ (recto) is valued not only as a document of Correggio’s process but also as a rare survivor from an era when such sheets were often discarded or reused.