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Home HRArt and auctions National Gallery’s stunning presentation of Parmigianino’s The Vision of Saint Jerome

National Gallery’s stunning presentation of Parmigianino’s The Vision of Saint Jerome

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Parmigianino’s Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome.

National Gallery’s stunning presentation of Parmigianino’s The Vision of Saint Jerome

By James Brewer

A “cover-up” by one of the most innovative artists of the Renaissance is in plain sight in a new special display at the National Gallery. Parmigianino was unrestrained in depicting physical anatomy in his preparatory sketches for The Madonna and Child with Saints, also known as The Vision of Saint Jerome, but kept within propriety when he presented the outcome to his patron.

The young artist – he was 22 at the time – clearly had a penchant for the erotic, even as he painted the holy persona of St Jerome: in the pen-and-ink sketch, he shows the saint naked. His relish for nude portraiture stemmed from impeccable sources – his study of life models in Rome and the Influence of Michelangelo’s heroic figures, particularly the ignudi (naked male figures) of the Sistine Chapel frescoes.

Figure Study for St Jerome. By Parmigianino.

Parmigianino realised that he could not get away with embracing stark nudity in what was to be the luminous finished work, but even with drapery added to the figure of Jerome he was still able to make a virtue out of a goodly amount of exposed flesh. His often daring and sophisticated elision of the sensual and the sacred is clearly visible now, undisguised at the stage of a study,

The sketch is among a selection of Parmigianino’s preparatory work – itself of estimable skill – that accompanies and adds historical depth to the story of one of the great masterpieces of early Italian Mannerism, in a whole room worthily devoted to it by the London institution. The glorious image transcends its subject to exemplify the artist’s eye-catching originality and experimentation. In one of his many paintings, a saint with a foamy beard has been likened to a marine god.

Studies of Saints John the Baptist and Jerome, a Crucifix and Various Heads.

The Vision of Saint Jerome is on public display for the first time in 10 years, following fastidious restoration.

Born into a family of painters in the northern Italian city of Parma, whence his sobriquet, Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (1503‒1540) was a child prodigy, always drawing. By his early twenties he was attracting the attention of wealthy, cultured patrons and had built a reputation to the extent that when he arrived in Rome he was received personally by Pope Clement VII, in around May 1524. The city had been captivated by Raphael’s serene style of idealised beauty, and the newcomer was praised as a ‘Raphael reborn’ because of the grace, ingenuity and refinement of his output.

In Rome, he began The Vision of Saint Jerome and was close to finishing the celestial altarpiece when out-of-control soldiers of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V unleashed the Sack of Rome. According to legend, soldiers searching for loot broke into the artist’s studio but were so awestruck by the painting that they left him alone. 

Study for the Virgin and Christ Child with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Jerome.

In the composition, a statuesque, majestic Madonna dressed in rose pink is seated on a throne of billowing clouds amid streaming rays of light. From her lap, her already maturing infant with blonde ringlets steps forward. Beneath them, the superhuman figure of John the Baptist gestures with a protracted arm – the artist was noted for elongating the limbs of his subjects – points dramatically to the holy mother and child. Reclining in a tangle of overgrowth, Jerome can only dream of the revelation.

The unusually narrow, vertical format of the painting led the artist to revise the stature of the saints, and the scale of the Virgin and child is larger than might be expected. With luxuriant brushwork and shimmering palette more than a nod to Venetian art, his effects embody an exhilarating sense of movement. His distinctive style paved the way for the development of what was to be known as Mannerism.

The National Gallery’s salute to Parmigianino’s highly charged, signature artwork is part of the institution’s 200th anniversary celebrations which began in 2024. The painting, which has astounded viewers for almost 500 years, was presented to the Gallery in 1826.

Almost 1,000 drawings attributed to Parmigianino survive: in number and technical accomplishment, he is seen as second only to Leonardo da Vinci among the cream of the 16th century.

The picture on display became known in the 19th century as The Vision of Saint Jerome, after the unusual representation of the saint apparently sleeping. It was commissioned by a noblewoman, Maria Bufalini, for a chapel in the church of San Salvatore in Lauro, a religious complex in the city. The painting was never installed in that church. According to historian and fellow artist Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) Parmigianino eventually fled Rome, and the painting was hidden for safekeeping. It was recovered by the heirs of Maria Bufalini long after the artist’s death and transferred to their family church in Città di Castello, central Italy.

Parmigianino’s masterpiece in Room 46 of the National Gallery.

Parmigianino made many drawings – some 17 survive – ahead of his final composition of The Vision of Saint Jerome. They range from velvety chalk studies to swirling pen and ink sketches, say the curators. Black and white chalk on blue paper add texture and atmospheric depth to some of the studies, which, being in an excellent state of preservation are fascinating insights into how Parmigianino tried out his ideas.

The conservation treatment removed layers of old varnish and retouching, revealing the lively quality of Parmigianino’s brushwork and rich colouring. The design of the painting’s new frame, made by the Framing Department at the National Gallery, is based on surviving contemporary examples and gives a sense of the original church setting.

Dr Maria Alambritis, curator of the Parmigianino project, said: “We are very fortunate to have Parmigianino’s Roman masterpiece, the only altarpiece by him in a UK collection, in the National Gallery. I hope visitors will be delighted to discover this magnificent work and immerse themselves in Parmigianino’s supremely elegant style and unique visionary world.”

Her research for the exhibition was supported by the Rick Mather David Scrase Foundation which assists charitable causes and projects with funds from the estates of Mather, a leading architect, and Scrase, a connoisseur and art curator, who shared a life together. The exhibition is part of the H J Hyams Exhibition Programme, supported by the Capricorn Foundation.

Images:

The Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome, 1526‒7. By Parmigianino. Oil on poplar. © The National Gallery, London.

Figure Study, 1526-7. By Parmigianino. Pen and brown ink, brown wash, with white heightening on paper. The J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.

Studies of Saints John the Baptist and Jerome, a Crucifix and Various Heads (recto), about 1525–7. By Parmigianino. Red chalk on paper. The J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.

Study for a composition of the Virgin and Christ Child with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Jerome below (recto), 1526–7. By Parmigianino. Pen and brown ink, with brown wash, with white lightening (oxidised), over red chalk on paper. British Museum, London.

Parmigianino’s masterpiece in Room 46 of the National Gallery.

Parmigianino: The Vision of Saint Jerome, Room 46, National Gallery via the Getty entrance, until March 9, 2025. Admission free.

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