Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker, 1503–1540
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino, was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bologna, and his native city of Parma. His work is characterized by a "refined sensuality" and often elongation of forms and includes Vision of Saint Jerome (1527) and the iconic if somewhat anomalous Madonna with the Long Neck (1534), and he remains the best known artist of the first generation whose whole careers fall into the Mannerist period.
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance artist Parmigianino. It is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
The work is mentioned by Late Renaissance art biographer Giorgio Vasari, who lists it as one of three small-size paintings that the artist brought to Rome with him in 1525. Vasari relays that the self-portrait was created by Parmigianino as an example to showcase his talent to potential customers. History →
The painting depicts the young artist (then twenty-one) in the middle of a room, distorted by the use of a convex mirror. The hand in the foreground is greatly elongated and distorted by the mirror. Description →
Portrait of Lorenzo Cybo
1524126 × 104 cmStatens Museum for Kunst
Portrait of Lorenzo Cybo (1524) is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance artist Parmigianino. It is housed in the National Gallery of Denmark, in Copenhagen.
The painting is mentioned by late Renaissance art biographer Giorgio Vasari as among those that Parmigianino executed during his sojourn in Rome. History →
Portrait of Gian Galeazzo Sanvitale
1524108 × 80 cmMuseo di Capodimonte
Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale (1524) is a painting of the condottiero Gian Galeazzo Sanvitale by the Italian late Renaissance artist Parmigianino. It is housed in the National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.
Parmigianino worked for a short period at the Sanvitale family court in their "Rocca" (palace-fortress) in Fontanellato (in what is now the province of Parma). The work, dated 1524 on the rear, was executed during his stay there, before he moved to Rome the following year. History →
The work is a "parade portrait", destined to enhance the count's image in front of his guests, and not a private depiction: this is visible in the rich display of objects showing his interests and his refined costumes. The count, then 28, is portrayed on a "Savonarola" chair from three-quarters but with the face looking towards the viewer. Description →
The Vision of Saint Jerome
1526343 × 149 cmNational Gallery
The Vision of Saint Jerome of The Madonna and Child with Saints is a painting by the Italian Mannerist artist Parmigianino, executed in 1526–1527. It is in the collection of the National Gallery, in London.
The work was commissioned on 3 January 1526 in Rome, by Maria Bufalini, wife of Antonio Caccialupi, to decorate the family chapel in the church of San Salvatore in Lauro. The contract mentioned "Francesco Mazola de Parma" and one "Pietro" with the same name, perhaps Parmigianino's uncle Piero Ilario Mazzola. History →
The composition is painted on a long and narrow panel. On the lower right of the painting, an old man is sleeping near a crucifix. Description →
The Conversion of Saint Paul
1527178 × 128 cmKunsthistorisches Museum
The Conversion of Saint Paul is an oil painting on canvas of 1527 by Parmigianino, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, in Vienna.
The Holy Family with St. John
1528159 × 131 cmMuseo di Capodimonte
Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist is a painting by the Italian painter Parmigianino, executed c. 1528. It was in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome until 1662, when it moved to Parma. There it hung in the Palazzo del Giardino and later in the Galleria Ducale – the 'Descrizione' of the latter in 1725 called it one of the finest works on display there.
Antea
1535136 × 86 cmMuseo di Capodimonte
Antea is a portrait painting by the Italian Mannerist artist Parmigianino. The painting is in the collection of the Museum of Capodimonte in Naples.
The work is mentioned in 1671 as part of the Farnese collections in the Palazzo del Giardino. In the late 17th century, the painting was moved to the Ducal Gallery in the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma. History →
The subject of the painting remains a mystery. In 1671, Giacomo Barri, an artist and writer, identified the woman as "Antea", a famous 16th-century Roman courtesan, who he stated was the artist's mistress. The sitter →
The painting appears in the Gilmore Girls episode The Festival of Living Art, where Rory Gilmore portrays the subject of the painting. The painting is referred to in Elizabeth Daly’s book “Nothing can rescue me: Henry Gamadge #6” as an excellent portrait of the character, Corinne Hutter. Cultural references →
Portrait of Pier Maria Rossi di San Secondo
1535133 × 98 cmMuseo del Prado
Portrait of Pier Maria Rossi di San Secondo is a painting by the Italian Mannerist artist Parmigianino, executed around 1535–1539 and housed in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. The subject was Count of San Secondo, and the painting forms a pair with a group portrait of his Countess and their children, Portrait of Camilla Gonzaga and Her Three Sons, although the latter is not unanimously attributed to Parmigianino.
It is mentioned in a 1686 inventory of the collections of the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, as the portrait of count of San Sigundo. The subject has been identified with Pier Maria III de' Rossi basing on this note, and by another from 1630 by one of his descendants about the existence of a portrait of him by Parmigianino. History →
The count is portrayed standing in front of a precious damask cloth background. He wears a long and wide, fur-lined black jacket, a waistcoat in the same color, a white shirt and white trousers with contemporary "French" cuts and padded codpiece. Description →
Cupid Making His Arch
1536136 × 65 cmKunsthistorisches Museum
Cupid Making His Bow is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance artist Parmigianino. It is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
The work appears in the inventory of Francesco Baiardo in Parma, who was a friend and patron of Parmigianino. Late Renaissance art biographer Giorgio Vasari writes that Baiardo had commissioned the Cupido che fabbrica di sua mano un arco. History →
Madonna with the Long Neck
1600219 × 132 cmGalleria Palatina
The Madonna with the Long Neck, also known as Madonna and Long Child with Angels and St. Jerome, is an Italian Mannerist oil painting by Parmigianino, dating from c. 1535-1540 and depicting Madonna and Child with angels. The painting began in 1534 for the funerary chapel of Francesco Tagliaferri in Parma, but remained incomplete on Parmigianino's death in 1540.
The painting depicts the Virgin Mary seated on a high pedestal in luxurious robes, holding a large baby Jesus on her lap. Six angels crowded together on the Madonna's right adore the Christ-child. Description →
