Westcoast Fine Art has dated this Holy Family Oil Painting to the 18th Century.
Title: The Holy Family with Saint Jerome
Period: 18th century
Medium: Oil on canvas
Provenance: Private collection, UK auction house, with old auction house chalk markings - one appearing to be a date (26/9/96 or 25/9/96) and the other appearing to be a sale number prefixed by the letters OMP which presumably stands for Old Master Paintings. Possibly a Christie's sale reference.
Overall size with the frame is 77cm x 67cm x 8cm and the painting itself measures 65.7cm x 55.3cm
The original altarpiece, in the possession of the Royal Collection Trust, is an early work probably dating from soon after Correggio left his home town of Correggio to settle in Parma, where he executed a cycle of frescoes in the Camera di San Paolo in 1518-19.
The present work is a faithful version of the original.
There is a seriousness and vulnerability given to the demeanour of the Christ Child who is shown being held by his mother as he blesses the figure of St Jerome as Joseph looks on from the right. It is a tender and intimate moment.
Antonio Allegri, called Correggio (from his native town near Parma), was the leading Emilian painter of the early 16th century and one of the greatest Italian artists of the Renaissance.
A pioneer of illusionistic fresco decoration, he also painted many influential altarpieces and smaller scale religious paintings, as well as a small number of mythological scenes. He was a major influence on Parmigianino.
Correggio was probably trained by the minor artist Francesco Bianchi Ferrari. He was later influenced by Northern European prints, and by Mantegna and Costa, and his work was subsequently greatly affected by Leonardo, who had been active in Milan, and by Venetian painting.
Condition report: Overall in good clean and restored condition. The original canvas has been lined and we estimate that this was likely completed around 40-50 years ago along with associated restoration work which would almost certainly have been undertaken along with cleaning and retouching as part of an overall restoration program. There is craquelure throughout commensurate with age. The paint surface is stable and the tonality is strong. The canvas is in good tension. The later 19th frame is in good general condition.
Westcoast Fine Art has dated this Holy Family Oil Painting to the 18th Century.
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Painting of the Holy Family with Saint Jerome, After Correggio (Antonio Allegri, C. 1489-1534)
