The Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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This altarpiece was commissioned for a burial chapel in San Salvatore in Lauro in Rome. However, the political turmoil following the Sack of Rome in 1527 meant that it was never installed there. According to the art biographer Vasari, Parmigianino was working on this picture when imperial troops burst into his workshop but ’seeing him [and] stupefied at this work… they let him pursue it'. It is a jarring, unusual, eye-catching composition. Saint John the Baptist dominates the foreground, staring at us intently. With his exaggeratedly long finger he points upwards to the Virgin and Child, seated in a burst of light against dark grey storm clouds. The Christ Child mischievously kicks his foot out of the painting towards us. Saint Jerome lies sleeping on the ground, exhausted from his vigils in the wilderness, clutching a cross with the crucified Christ.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome

Date

1526-7

Medium

Oil on poplar

Measurements

H 342.9 x W 148.6 cm

Accession number

NG33

Acquisition method

Presented by the Directors of the British Institution, 1826

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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