The ''Vision of Saint Jerome'' is a painting by the Italian

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

artist

Parmigianino Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bo ...

, executed in 1526–1527. It is now in the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

The work was commissioned on 3 January 1526 in Rome, by Maria Bufalini, wife of Antonio Caccialupi, to decorate the family chapel in the church of

San Salvatore in Lauro San Salvatore in Lauro is a Catholic church in central Rome, Italy. It is located on a piazza of the same name in the rione Ponte. It stands on Via Vecchiarelli, just south of the Lungotevere Tor di Nona and north of via dei Coronari. Within Rom ...

. The contract mentioned "Francesco Mazola de Parma" and one "Pietro" with the same name, perhaps Parmigianino's uncle Piero Ilario Mazzola. The elongated shape derives from its original destination as part of a

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

, whose sides (never painted) should represent the Immaculate Conception (to which the chapel was dedicated) and the saints Joachim and Anna. According to late Renaissance art biographer

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

, Parmigianino was working to this painting during the Sack of Rome, and he had to stop when the city was ravaged by the imperial troops. He was able to escape paying a ransom, while his uncle remained in Rome, being able to hide the painting in the refectory of

Santa Maria della Pace Santa Maria della Pace is a church in Rome, central Italy, not far from Piazza Navona. The building lies in rione Ponte. History The current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of Sant'Andrea de Aquarizariis in 1482 ...

Parmigianino, visione di san girolamo 04

In 1558 the Bufalini family decided to move it in their chapel in Sant'Agostino at

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

, from where it was acquired in 1790 by the English painter

James Durno James Durno (c.1745–1795) was a British historical painter who spent most of his career in Rome. Life Durno was born in around 1745, the son of a brewery proprietor who lived the later part of his life in an area of West London then known as th ...

. In England, it was sold to the Marquess of Albercon for 1,500

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

, then, after a series of changes of hand, to the National Gallery, in 1826. There are preparatory drawings in the

Musée Condé The Musée Condé – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the c ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and other museums, for a total of some twenty. A drawing in the Galleria nazionale di Parma is the one which is more similar to the final version, although showing a horizontal composition.

Description

The painting is divided into two narrative sectors: a lower one, with

Saint Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

is sleeping near the crucifix (with his traditional symbol, the cardinal hat visible near a skull) and receives the vision of St.

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, identified by the long cross and the baptismal washbasin which is tied at his belt; St. John indicates the Child, represented in the upper sector between the legs of the Madonna, with a shining background behind them. Parmigianino's attention to detail is shown by the Baptist's reed cross, the speckled skin which covers him, the undergrowth near the sleeping Jerome, the sheen on Mary's dress, the last perhaps inspired by classical sculptures seen by Parmigianino during his trips. St. John's raised right arm and upwards-pointing finger are reminiscent of Leonardo's painting '' St. John the Baptist''.

Sources

External links

Page at museum's official website
{{Parmigianino Paintings of the Madonna and Child by Parmigianino 1520s paintings Collections of the National Gallery, London Paintings of Jerome Paintings depicting John the Baptist Altarpieces Skulls in art