{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O126508"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O126508/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AW0800/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AW0800/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AW0800","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JV8371","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O126508/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O126508","accessionNumber":"5937-1857","objectType":"Tempera painting","titles":[{"title":"St Hilary of Poitiers surrounded by angels, after Correggio's fresco in the cupola of Parma Cathedral","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Antonio Allegri Correggio (1489-1534) was an Italian painter and draughtsman. His best-known works are the illusionistic frescoes in the domes of S Giovanni Evangelista and the cathedral in Parma, where he worked from 1520 to 1530. \r\n5937-1857 is a reduced copy, on canvas, by an unknown artist probably painting in the early 19th century, of one of Correggio's squinch frescoes for the dome of the cathedral.\r\nAlthough the dome is octagonal, Correggio’s <i>Assumption of the Virgin,</i> illusionistically opens up the <i>cupola</i> so that the viewer in the church witnesses her Assumption from below. At the base of the dome is a fictive parapet pierced by real round windows. In front of it, on a fictive stand the Apostles in a variety of responses to the event occurring above. Beyond them is the Virgin herself, among an exultant throng of music-making angels and putti who carry her into heaven. The patriarchs, headed by Adam, are to the left, the women with Eve to the right. The whole drama is moved away from the centre, so that the Virgin is more easily visible from the nave. In the centre of the dome is a plummeting figure alternatively identified as Christ or as an angel. As the figure has no beard or stigmata and wears green and white, a colour combination not usually associated with Christ, his identity remains a topic of debate. \r\n5937-1857 is a copy after one of Correggio's paintings on the squinches, which depict four of the patron saints of Parma (John the Baptist, Hilary, Bernard Uberti and Joseph), were designed and executed after 1528 and are painted in an even more ethereal style than the dome. The combination of technical virtuosity, dynamic movement and playfulness in these works ensured their importance for later generations of artists.\r\nSt. Hilary of Poitiers, normally represented as aged and bearded, is depicted by Correggio as a joyful young man with blond windblown curls and a boyish smile. This unusual representation may be intended as a play on the Saint's name and the Latin adjective  'hilais/hilare' or joyful. St. Hilary of Poitiers (ca. 300-ca. 368), normally represented as aged and bearded, is depicted by Correggio as a joyful young man with blond windblown curls and a boyish smile. This unusual representation may be intended as a play on the Saint's name and the Latin adjective  'hilais/hilare' or joyful. Hilary was the patron saint of Poitiers and Parma and a politically astutue and persuasive voice against Arian heresy. His writings were respected as remarkable models of Latin prose and Christian exegeiss by admireres from the next generation, like Jerome, and by scholars of Correggio's own era.","physicalDescription":"St Hilary of Poitiers borne aloft on a cloud surrounded by angels, a tempera copy of a portion of Correggio's fresco for the cupola of Parma Cathedral","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Correggio","id":"A5142"},"association":{"text":"painter (artist)","id":"AAT25136"},"note":"after"},{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"copyist","id":"AAT25189"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Correggio","id":"A5142"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"tempera","id":"AAT15062"},{"text":"canvas","id":"AAT14078"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painting","id":"x30598"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Tempera on canvas","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"},{"text":"Ecclesiastical Art/Craft","id":"THES260952"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2006AW0800","2017JV8371"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"A","id":"THES304473"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Tempera on Canvas","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Italy","id":"x28927"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"19th century","earliest":"1800-01-01","latest":"1900-12-31"},"association":{"text":"painted","id":"x30138"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"107","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"estimate","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"91","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"estimate","note":""},{"dimension":"","value":"","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"Measurement taken at time of assessment prior to BH decant - Frame Dimensions (mm): H-1087 W-1050 D-57;\nPainting Dimensions (mm): not measured"}],"dimensionsNote":"Dimensions taken from <u>Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800</u>, C.M. Kauffmann, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1973","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased, 1857\n\nHistorical significance: Antonio Allegri Correggio (1489-1534) was an Italian painter and draughtsman. His best-known works are the illusionistic frescoes in the domes of S Giovanni Evangelista and the cathedral in Parma, where he worked from 1520 to 1530. \r\nCorreggio won the prime commission to fresco the dome, apse and choir vault of Parma Cathedral in 1522, as a result of the success of the newly completed dome at S Giovanni. \r\n5937-1857 is a reduced copy, on canvas, by an unknown artist probably working in the early 19th century, of one of Correggio's squinch frescoes for the dome of the cathedral.\r\nAlthough the dome is octagonal, Correggio’s <i>Assumption of the Virgin,</i> illusionistically opens up the <i>cupola</i> so that the viewer in the church witnesses her Assumption from below. At the base of the dome is a fictive parapet pierced by real round windows. In front of it, on a fictive stand the Apostles in a variety of responses to the event occurring above. Beyond them is the Virgin herself, among an exultant throng of music-making angels and putti who carry her into heaven. The patriarchs, headed by Adam, are to the left, the women with Eve to the right. The whole drama is moved away from the centre, so that the Virgin is more easily visible from the nave. In the centre of the dome is a plummeting figure alternatively identified as Christ or as an angel. As the figure has no beard or stigmata and wears green and white, a colour combination not usually associated with Christ, his identity remains a topic of debate. \r\n5937-1857 is a copy after one of Correggio's paintings on the squinches, which depict four of the patron saints of Parma (John the Baptist, Hilary, Bernard Uberti and Joseph), were designed and executed after 1528 and are painted in an even more ethereal style than the dome. The combination of technical virtuosity, dynamic movement and playfulness in these works ensured their importance for later generations of artists.\r\nSt. Hilary of Poitiers (ca. 300-ca. 368), normally represented as aged and bearded, is depicted by Correggio as a joyful young man with blond windblown curls and a boyish smile. This unusual representation may be intended as a play on the Saint's name and the Latin adjective  'hilais/hilare' or joyful. Hilary was the patron saint of Poitiers and Parma and a politically astutue and persuasive voice against Arian heresy. His writings were respected as remarkable models of Latin prose and Christian exegeiss by admireres from the next generation, like Jerome, and by scholars of Correggio's own era.","historicalContext":"This is a copy on canvas after Correggio's original fresco. Fresco is a painting technique in which pigments are dissolved in water and then applied to fresh, wet lime plaster (the <i>intonaco</i>) . As the wall dries, the pigments become an integral part of the wall.  Fresco painting was technically demanding and was usually carried out on a large scale, so the painter had to be accurate in drawing up his composition and capable of organizing a team of skilled assistants. The appearance of the finished fresco depended on the way in which the <i>intonaco</i> was applied. Until the 15th century it was worked with a trowel to a smooth surface, however, from the 16th century onwards, a rougher texture was created by working up the surface with short strokes of a brush, emulating painting on canvas.\r\n\r\nIllusionism in painting describes the attempt to make images that seemingly share or extend the three-dimensional space in which the spectator stands. The term is also applied in sculpture, for a presentation of figures that attempts in some way to make them seem alive, and occasionally in architecture, for a presentation of structures that attempts in some way to enhance their dimensions. For imagery, the painter may represent a flat surface from which planes jut and recede to a slight depth or great distance- an effect also known as <i>trompe l'oeil</i>. This practice was common in antiquity and in Italian painting from the 15th century.","briefDescription":"Tempera painting, 'St Hilary of Poitiers Surrounded by Angels', after Correggio, 19th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Kauffmann, C.M., <u>Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800</u>, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, p. 75-76, cat. no. 73 (5929-1857 to 5937-1857)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Georg Gronau, <u>Correggio, des Meisters Gemälde</u> Stuttgart : Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1907."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"David Ekserdjian, <u>Correggio</u> New Haven, Conn. ; London : Yale University Press, c1997, pp. 241-261."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Carolyn Smyth, <u>Correggio's frescoes in Parma Cathedral</u>  Princeton, N.J. ; Chichester : Princeton University Press, c1997, esp. pp. 28-30."}],"production":"A 19th-century copy of part of Correggio's fresco for the cupola of Parma Cathedral","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Hilary of Poitiers","id":"N14895"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"cloud","id":"x35718"},{"text":"books","id":"AAT28051"},{"text":"Crozier","id":"x35914"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["5937-1857"],"accessionNumberNum":"5937","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1857,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-05","recordCreationDate":"2006-07-27","availableToBook":true}}