Cornaro, Caterina (1454–1510) Queen of Cyprus
(1472–89)
A Venetian noblewoman, she married James II of Cyprus
by proxy in 1468 in order to ally Cyprus with Venice.
James died (1473), leaving Cyprus to Caterina and her un-
born child (James III). After the infant James III also died
(1474) Caterina needed Venetian support in order to deal
with numerous conspiracies against her and the threat of
Ottoman attack, but Venice gradually usurped her power
and forced her abdication (1489). Retiring to Asolo, near
Treviso, she entertained literary figures, including Pietro
BEMBO who entitled his dialogue on love Gli Asolani
(1505).
Cornaro, Luigi (1467–1566) Italian dietician
A member of the powerful Cornaro family of Venice, he
spent the first 40 years of his life indulging his passion for
food and drink. Threatened by his physician with immi-
nent death if he continued to indulge himself, Cornaro re-
solved to restrict his diet drastically. Initially it was
reduced to a daily intake of 12 ounces of food and 14
ounces of wine. Eventually, however, it was reduced to a
single egg a day. Details of Cornaro’s austere regime were
revealed in his Discorsi della vita sobria (1558). Assuming
the accuracy of his birth date, Cornaro lived to be 98.
See also:FOOD AND COOKING
Cornelisz., Cornelis (Cornelisz. van Haarlem)
(1562–1638) Dutch painter
Cornelisz. studied under Pieter Pietersz. (Jonge Peer) in
his native Haarlem before visiting Rouen and Antwerp.
Back in Haarlem (1583) he collaborated with GOLTZIUS
and Carel van MANDERin their academy. Cornelisz., who
specialized in history and portrait painting, retained a
strong mannerist influence (seeMANNERISM) throughout
his working life. His bravura approach to figure drawing
and foreshortening is exemplified in The Massacre of the
Innocents (1591; Haarlem).
Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de (c. 1510–1554)
Spanish explorer
Born in Salamanca, Coronado went to the West Indies and
then Mexico, becoming governor of New Galicia (1538).
He organized an expedition of several hundred Spaniards
and Indians to find Cíbola, site of the fabled “Seven Cities
of Gold” reported by Fray Marcos de NIZA, but found only
the pueblos of present-day New Mexico and Arizona
(1540). Back in New Galicia (1542) he lost his governor-
ship and was unsuccessfully indicted (1546) for his con-
duct on the expedition. He died in Mexico City.
Corpus Hermeticum See HERMETICISM
Correggio, Antonio Allegri (c. 1489–1534) Italian
painter
He took his name from his birthplace, Correggio, east of
Parma, but otherwise little is known of Correggio’s life.
The obvious influence of MANTEGNAon his work suggests
that he may have studied in Mantua. Another influence
was that of LEONARDO DA VINCI, seen in the softness that is
characteristic of all but his earliest work; Correggio’s fig-
ures are however more sensual and fleshy than Leonardo’s.
In about 1518 he went to Parma, where the following year
he decorated a ceiling in the convent of San Paolo, before
working on the dome of the church of San Giovanni Evan-
gelista (1520–23). The resulting fresco depicted the 12
apostles on clouds around the figure of Christ ascending
into heaven, sharply foreshortened as if seen from below.
The same technique (known as sotto in su) was used with
more daring foreshortening in his Assumption of the Virgin
in the dome of Parma cathedral (1526–30), which again
presents to the spectator standing beneath it a visually
convincing ascent into heaven. Although the work was
described by one contemporary as “a hash of frogs’ legs,”
this masterly illusionism of Correggio’s, a development of
that first used by Mantegna, set the style for almost all fu-
ture ceiling decorations.
Correggio’s oil paintings were equally bold in their
composition, particularly his altar paintings, in which he
also experimented with artificial effects of light. As well as
religious paintings he painted a number of voluptuous
mythologies, such as The Loves of Jupiter for Federico
Gonzaga (1530 onward; various locations). He died in
Correggio, having produced work that was to influence
both baroque and rococo artists.
Further reading: David Ekserdjian, Correggio (New
Haven, Conn. and London: Yale University Press, 1997).Corteccia, Francesco (1502–1571) Italian composer and
organist
From 1515 he served the church of San Giovanni Battista,
Florence, in various capacities and was organist there
from 1535 to 1539. In 1540 Corteccia was appointed mae-
stro di cappella at San Giovanni Battista, at the cathedral,
and at the Medici court. Corteccia made a substantial con-
tribution to the early madrigal; he wrote many for partic-
ular occasions, the most famous being those composed for
the wedding of Duke COSIMO Ito Eleonora of Toledo
(1539). Corteccia also wrote a prologue, five INTERMEDII,
and an epilogue for the comedy, Il comodo, by Antonio
Landi, which was performed at the wedding banquet. The
intermedii were written for solo singers, ensemble, and
varying combinations of instruments to depict different
times of the day; these were published in Corteccia’s
madrigal collection of 1547. His considerable output of
liturgical music is less progressive than his secular com-
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