Parmigianino

He produced outstanding drawings and was one of the first Italian painters to experiment with printmaking himself. While his portable works have always been keenly collected and are now in major museums in Italy and around the world, his two large projects in fresco are in a church in Parma and a palace in a small town nearby. This, in conjunction with their lack of large main subjects, has resulted in their being less well known than other works by similar artists. He painted a number of important portraits, leading a trend in Italy towards the three-quarters or full-length figure, previously mostly reserved for royalty.

• Name — Parmigianino • Birth Name — Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola • Born — 11 January 1503 • Birthplace — Parma, Duchy of Milan • Died — 24 August 1540 • Place of death — Casalmaggiore, Republic of Venice • Field — Painting, etching • Movement — Mannerist • Works — * Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror • Vision of Saint Jerome • Madonna with the Long Neck

Parmigianino was the eighth child of Filippo Mazzola and one Donatella Abbati. His father died of the plague two years after Parmigianino's birth, and the children were raised by their uncles, Michele and Pier Ilario, who, according to Vasari, were modestly talented artists. In 1515, his uncle received a commission from Nicolò Zangrandi for the decoration of a chapel in San Giovanni Evangelista; a work later completed by a young Parmigianino. By the age of eighteen, he had already completed the Bardi Altarpiece. In 1521, Parmigianino was sent to Viadana (along with painter Girolamo Bedoli, who was to marry his cousin) to escape the wars between the French, Imperial, and papal armies. In Viadana, he painted two panels in tempera, depicting Saint Francis for the church of the Frati de' Zoccoli, and the Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine for San Pietro. He also worked in San Giovanni and met Correggio, who was at work on the fresco decorations of the cupola.

• Illustration — Madonna with the Long Neck (1535–1540) In 1524, he travelled to Rome with five small paintings, including the Circumcision of Jesus and his Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror, seeking patronage of the Medici pope, Clement VII. Vasari records that in Rome, Parmigianino was "celebrated as a Raphael reborn". In January 1526, Parmigianino and his uncle, Pier Ilario, agreed with Maria Bufalina from Città di Castello to decorate the church of San Salvatore in Lauro with an altarpiece of the Vision of Saint Jerome (1526–27, National Gallery, London). Within a year, the Sack of Rome caused Parmigianino and many other artists to flee.

He resided in Bologna for nearly three years. At around 1528, he painted the Madonna and Child with Saints (Pinacoteca, Bologna), then later in 1528, he painted Madonna con la Rosa (Dresden) and Madonna with Saint Zachariah (Uffizi). By 1530, Parmigianino had returned to Parma. • Illustration — Vision of Saint Jerome (1526–1527) In 1531, Parmigianino received a commission for two altarpieces, depicting Saint Joseph and Saint John the Baptist, from the unfinished church of Santa Maria della Steccata. The brotherhood overseeing the church advanced him a salary and promised him the supplies and materials; however, by 1535, the project was unfinished. In December, he nominated Don Nicola Cassola, a Parman cleric at the Roman Curia, to act as his legal representative. Parmigianino authorized him to collect the 50 gold scudi from Bonifazio Gozzadini for the Madonna with St. John the Baptist and St. Zacharias. In 1534, it was decided that the Madonna dal collo lungo (the Madonna with the Long Neck) would hang in the chapel of the family of Elena Baiardi. Parmigianino had probably expected to succeed Correggio in the favour of the church. However, in April 1538, the administrative offices commissioned initially Giorgio Gandini del Grano, then Girolamo Bedoli, to decorate the apse and choir of the Parma Cathedral. It is believed that at this time, he became a devotee of alchemy. Vasari hypothesizes that this was due to his fascination with magic. Scholars now agree that Parmigianino's scientific interests may have been due to his obsession with trying to find a new medium for his etchings. As a result of his alchemical researches, he completed little work in the church. He was imprisoned for two months for breach of contract after the Confraternita decided unanimously to ban him from continuing in their church. He was replaced between 1539 and 1540 by Giulio Romano, who also promptly withdrew from the contract. Parmigianino died of a fever in Casalmaggiore on 24 August 1540 at the age of 37 years. He was buried in the church of the Servite Friars, "naked with a cross made of cypress wood on his chest". • Illustration — Lovers (etching and engraving) Among those closely influenced by Parmigianino were his cousin Girolamo Bedoli and Girolamo's son Alessandro Mazzola; Pomponeo Amidano; Giacomo Bertoia; and Francesco Borgani.

• Baptism of Christ (c. 1519) – Oil on wood, 197 x 137 cm – Gemäldegalerie, Berlin • Bardi Altarpiece (1521) – Tempera on panel, 203 x 130 cm; Church of Santa Maria, Bardi • Saint Barbara (1522) – Oil on wood, 48 x 39 cm – Prado Museum, Madrid • Circumcision of Jesus (c. 1523) – Oil on wood, 42 x 31.4 cm; Detroit Institute of Arts • Illustration — Saint Barbara (c. 1522) • Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror (c. 1524) – Oil on wood, diameter 24.4 cm; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna • Portrait of a Collector (c. 1524) – Oil on panel, 86 x 94 cm, National Gallery, London • Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale (1524) – Oil on panel, 109 x 81 cm, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples • Portrait of Lorenzo Cybo (1524) – Oil on panel, 126 x 104 cm, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen • Myth of Diana and Acteon (c. 1524) – Fresco, Rocca Sanvitale, Fontanellato, Province of Parma • The Holy Family with Angels (c. 1524) – Oil on panel, 110 x 89 cm, Prado Museum, Madrid • Antea (c. 1524–1527) – Oil on canvas, 135 x 88 cm, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples • Madonna and Child (1525) – Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome • Vision of Saint Jerome (1526–1527) – Oil on panel, 343 x 149 cm, National Gallery, London • Conversion of Saint Paul (c. 1527) – Oil on canvas, 177.5 x 128.5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna • Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (c. 1528) – Museo di Capodimonte, Naples • The Mystical Marriage of St Catherine (1529) – Oil on panel, 74.2 x 57.2 cm, National Gallery, London • Madonna of the Rose (1530) – Oil on panel, 109 x 88.5 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden • Madonna with Child and a monk (c. 1530) – Oil on Poplar wood, 27.3 x 21.6 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich • Turkish Slave (Portrait of a Lady; c. 1533) – Oil on panel, 67 x 53 cm, Galleria Nazionale di Parma • Cupid Making His Arch (c. 1533–1535) – Oil on panel, 135 x 65.3 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna • Madonna with the Long Neck (1534–1540) – Oil on wood, 216 x 132 cm, Uffizi, Florence • Portrait of Pier Maria Rossi di San Secondo (c. 1535–1539) – Oil on panel, 133 x 98 cm, Prado Museum, Madrid • Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene (c. 1535–1540) – Oil on panel, 75.9 × 59.7cm, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles • Portrait of Camilla Gonzaga and Her Three Sons (c. 1539–1540) – Oil on panel, 128 x 97 cm, Prado Museum, Madrid • Casalmaggiore Altarpiece, Madonna with Child, St Stephen and St John (1540) – Oil on panel, 253 cm × 161 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

Works recorded as notable number 6: The Circumcision, Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror, Portrait of a Man in a Red Beret, Madonna with the Long Neck, Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine and Nativity. His recorded genres are history and portrait.