Lovers and spotters of Renaissance paintings heading to London between now and March 9, 2025, are in for a very, very rare treat as the National Gallery in London is once again putting on display one of the most important paintings of the Renaissance: Parmigianino’s The Vision of Saint Jerome.
Out of conservation for the first time in over 10 years, this usually-held-in-storage painting is considered to be a masterpiece of the period, and one that single-handedly pushed European art into the direction it took.
Officially titled The Madonna and Child with Saints (though usually referred to simply as ‘The Vision of Saint Jerome’), this painting from the mid-1520s was created by the Parma-born child prodigy, Francesco Maria Mazzola, known as Parmigianino.
Originally an altarpiece, this 3.5 m by 1.5m painting depicts the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus, Saint Jereme, and Saint John the Baptist. Parmigianino painted it during his stint in Rome, when was just 21. Such was his talent that the Pope himself had invited him to the Eternal City and had even praised him as being ‘Raphael reborn’.
The painting has gone on to reach such dizzying heights that legends have sprung up around its creation. In his seminal work on Renaissance art, Giorgio Vasari even states that during the Sack of Rome in 1527, the soldiers who invaded Parmigianino’s studio were so awestruck by its beauty that they allowed him to continue to work on it without any interruptions.
What makes this temporary exhibition even more special is that visitors won’t just get to feast their eyes on the beauty of this painting… Held to mark the Gallery’s bicentenary celebrations, the curators have also united the painting with the many drawings Parmigianino made in the lead up of its creation, marking a first in the art world.