Madonna of St. Jerome

Correggio's Madonna of Saint Jerome (c. 1528) at the Galleria Nazionale di Parma is among his most celebrated altarpieces, depicting the Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome's devotional offering of his translation of the Bible — literally placing the Word of God before the Word made flesh. The altarpiece was commissioned for a chapel in San Antonio Abate, Parma, and its combination of Jerome's scholarly piety, Magdalene's penitent devotion, and the Madonna's central warmth created a devotional program of unusual richness. The dramatic chiaroscuro of the right half — Jerome illuminated against darkness — and the luminous gold of the left create a composition of dynamic chromatic contrast that anticipates the Baroque.

Brilliant, flooding daylight illuminates the composition from the left, creating warm, glowing flesh tones and luminous draperies. Correggio's characteristic softness of modeling dissolves hard edges in atmospheric light.