London, Parmigianino's Vision of St. Jerome returns to view after a decade

For the first time in a decade, a masterpiece by Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola; Parma, 1503 - Casalmaggiore, 1540) is returning to public view at the National Gallery in London after careful conservation work: this is the Vision of St. Jerome, a masterpiece of sixteenth-century Italian painting that arrived at the National Gallery in 1826, two years after the institution was founded. The work is displayed in an exhibition along with a selection of some of the most important preparatory drawings, tracing the development of Parmigianino’s unique final composition. Through works loaned from important national and international collections, the exhibition aims to offer visitors the opportunity to follow the artist’s creative process, from initial ideas to final designs, and to immerse themselves in the mind of one of the most innovative artists of the 16th century.

Scholar Maria Alambritis, curator of Project: Parmigianino, says, “We are very fortunate to have Parmigianino’s Roman masterpiece, his only altarpiece in a U.K. collection, in the National Gallery. Its return to public view after a decade is a very special moment to celebrate its importance, and this exhibition offers an unprecedented opportunity to encounter the painting along with a selection of its exceptional preparatory drawings. I hope visitors will be delighted to discover this magnificent work and immerse themselves in Parmigianino’s extremely elegant style and unique visionary world.”

The Vision of Saint Jerome

Born into a family of painters, a precocious talent, Parmigianino attracted the attention of wealthy and cultured patrons from a very young age. His growing fame as an artist preceded his arrival in Rome around May 1524, and he was received personally by Pope Clement VII. Rome at the time was dominated by Raphael’s serene and classicist style, characterized by idealized beauty. The grace, wit, and refinement of execution evident in Parmigianino’s early works led him to be hailed as a kind of Raphael reborn.

The Vision of St. Jerome, a title the work acquired in the 19th century because of the pose of St. Jerome, was painted by Parmigianino when he was only 23 years old during his brief period in Rome, where he worked from 1524 to 1527. It was commissioned by a noble patron, Maria Bufalini, as an altarpiece for a chapel in the church of San Salvatore in Lauro, an important religious complex in the heart of Rome. The work represented a great opportunity for the young artist at a crucial moment in his career: however, the painting would never be installed in the church for which it was intended.

According to Giorgio Vasari, Parmigianino was in fact working on this altarpiece in 1527 at the outbreak of the disastrous Sack of Rome. When Charles V’s imperial troops raided the artist’s studio, they were so amazed by the painting that they allowed Parmigianino to continue working. Eventually, however, the artist fled Rome and the painting was hidden for safety. It was recovered only by the patron’s heirs long after the artist’s death and transferred in 1558 to the family church in Città di Castello, central Italy. In 1790 the work was purchased by English painter James Durno and transferred to England. After a few passages it ended up in the collection of Reverend Holwell Carr, who in 1826 sold the work to the National Gallery in London.

Parmigianino’s altarpiece demonstrates the breadth of influences he absorbed in Rome, from the art of Raphael and Michelangelo to ancient sculpture. More than just a collection of works by other artists, however, it reveals Parmigianino’s unique visionary approach to image-making. Against the rays of light seen at the top of the altarpiece, a majestic Madonna in pink is seated on a throne of billowing clouds. The Child, blond and curly-haired, steps forward toward us, and below of two main figures we admire the figure of John the Baptist gazing down at us as his arm, long by an unnatural and unrealistic length, directs our attention upward toward the holy mother and child above, and behind him, a sleeping Jerome seems strangely oblivious to the divine apparition, reclining in the dense tangle of roots and leaves grown around him.

Parmigianino was one of the most talented and prolific draftsmen of the 16th century. Nearly 1,000 drawings attributed to him survive today. Parmigianino devoted numerous drawings to the development of the Vision of Saint Jerome, from atmospheric, velvety studies executed in chalk to swirling sketches in pen and ink. These sheets reveal his exquisite drawing skills and his extraordinary mastery of all media.

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

Parmigianino’s distinctive style, characterized by incredibly elongated figures and an air of refinement combined with an unexpected subversion of space, paved the way for the development of the style later known as Mannerism. With its extreme verticality of composition, lush brushwork and shimmering palette, this painting has astonished viewers for nearly 500 years.

The exhibition catalog provides an in-depth resource on the painting by the exhibition’s curators, with contributions from guests such as Aimee Ng, curator of the Frick Collection in New York, and Larry Keith, head of conservation and custodian of the collection at the National Gallery. The catalog also features a special section of plates with full-page illustrations of all known preparatory drawings. Maria Alambritis’ research presented in this exhibition was supported by the Rick Mather David Scrase Foundation.

London, Parmigianino's Vision of St. Jerome returns to view after a decade

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