Not long after these flourished Lelio Orsi, of Reggio. Banished from his native place, he took up his residence at Novellara, a city then in the possession of the Gonzaghi, where he established himself, and derived his name of Lelio da Novellara. This distinguished character, of whom no account had been given, beyond a slight notice in the Abbecedario, has recently been honoured with an excellent life, from the pen of the Cavalier Tiraboschi, compiled from a variety of sources. Whether he was really a disciple of Coreggio still remains a disputed point with historians, though it is certain he flourished sufficiently near, both in regard to time and place, to have become acquainted with him. He, at least, studied and copied his works, of which there is an instance in a copy of the celebrated _Notte_, in possession of the noble house of Gazzola, at Verona. Nor are there wanting writers who maintain that Parma, likewise, was embellished by his hand, a city in which the chief ornaments of that school employed themselves. And there are false accounts, still in some measure credited, of his having been a pupil of Michelangiolo; of Coreggio having corresponded with him, and even consulted him in his designs. It is true, indeed, he is an ingenious, accurate, and powerful designer. Whether he imbibed his taste at Rome, as Tiraboschi, upon the authority of a MS., seems to believe; or from Giulio in the city of Mantua; or, again, from studying the designs and models of Michelangiolo; a knowledge of the path being itself sufficient to enable enlightened spirits to run the same career with success. Decidedly his design is not of the Lombard School; and hence arises the difficulty of supposing him one of the scholars of Coreggio, in which case his earlier pieces, at least, would have partaken of a less robust character. He has admirably succeeded, however, in attaining the same grace in his chiaroscuro, in the spreading of his colours, and in the beauty and delicacy of his youthful heads. Both Reggio and Novellara possess many of his pictures in fresco, now, for the most part, perished; and we are indebted to the glorious memory of Francesco III. for such as are now to be seen at Modena, in the palace of his highness, transferred thither from the fortress of Novellara. Few of his altar-pieces remain in public in either of the cities, the rest being removed; one of which last, representing the Saints Rocco and Sebastiano, along with S. Giobbe, I happened to meet with in the studio of Signor Armanno, at Bologna. A few others attributed to him at Parma,[7] at Ancona, and at Mantua, are by no means of so authentic a character; and there is every reason to believe that Lelio, dividing his time between Reggio and Novellara, never absented himself from those places long together; and has thus remained less known than many other painters of inferior rank. The silence of Vasari, of Lomazzo, of Baldinucci, as well as the chief part of foreigners, is thus likewise accounted for.