Focus on Madonna and Child with St Francis and explore the History.
The contract for the work (Correggio's first major commission) was signed by the artist on 30 August 1514, with the consent of his still-unmarried father, and of brother Girolamo Cattania, the guardian of the Franciscan convent in the town of Correggio, Emilia-Romagna, whose church was dedicated to St Francis. The work was probably meant as the high altarpiece for the convent church – that altar was site of the Da Correggio family vault. He was paid for it on 4 April 1515, showing how fast he produced it. The contract and payment records for this painting provide the first documentary evidence of his career. 
Just before 1638 the painting was confiscated by Francesco I d'Este and taken to the Palazzo Ducale in Modena, where it hung alongside five other Correggios seized from the duchy's territory. In 1746 the impoverished Francesco III d'Este tried to raise some money by selling the hundred most famous works in the Galleria Estense, including the six Correggios, to Augustus III of Saxony.
Correggio, Emilia-Romagna Galleria Estense Francis Francesco I d'Este Correggio Modena Augustus III of Saxony Palazzo Ducale Francesco III d'Este