Saint Hilary Surrounded by Angels (copy of the fresco in the cupola of Parma Cathedral)

Another section from the Victoria and Albert Museum's series of copies after Correggio's Parma Cathedral dome, this panel depicts Saint Hilary of Poitiers surrounded by angels. As the patron saint of Parma, Hilary's prominent placement in the dome was liturgically significant. Correggio's original fresco transformed the interior of the cathedral into an overwhelming vision of heaven, with over a hundred figures arranged in concentric rings ascending toward the Virgin. These Victorian-era copies preserve important documentary evidence of the fresco's condition and details.

The copy records Correggio's innovative treatment of angelic figures floating in atmospheric space, their bodies foreshortened and enveloped in swirling drapery and clouds. The luminous palette and soft modeling demonstrate the original's revolutionary fusion of form and light that made Correggio the forerunner of Baroque illusionism.