Parmigianino | |
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| Born | Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (1503-01-11)11 January 1503 |
| Died | 24 August 1540(1540-08-24) (aged 37) |
| Known for | Painting,etching |
| Notable work | Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror Vision of Saint Jerome Madonna with the Long Neck |
| Movement | Mannerist |
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 1503 – 24 August 1540), also known asFrancesco Mazzola or, more commonly, asParmigianino (UK:/ˌpɑːrmɪdʒæˈniːnoʊ/,[2]US:/-dʒɑːˈ-/,[3]Italian:[parmidʒaˈniːno]; "the little one from Parma"), was anItalianMannerist painter andprintmaker active inFlorence,Rome,Bologna, and his native city ofParma. His work is characterized by a "refined sensuality" and often elongation of forms and includesVision of Saint Jerome (1527) and the iconic if somewhat anomalousMadonna with the Long Neck (1534), and he remains the best known artist of the first generation whose whole careers fall into the Mannerist period.[4]
His prodigious and individual talent has always been recognised, but his career was disrupted by war, especially theSack of Rome in 1527, three years after he moved there, and then ended by his death at 37. 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 infresco 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.
Parmigianino was the eighth child ofFilippo 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 toVasari were modestly talented artists.[5] In 1515, his uncle received a commission from Nicolò Zangrandi for the decoration of a chapel inSan Giovanni Evangelista; a work later completed by a young Parmigianino. By the age of eighteen, he had already completed theBardi Altarpiece. In 1521, Parmigianino was sent toViadana (along with painterGirolamo Bedoli who was to marry his cousin) to escape the wars between the French, Imperial, and papal armies. In Viadana, he painted two panels intempera, depictingSaint Francis for the church of the Frati de' Zoccoli, and theMystical Marriage of Saint Catherine for San Pietro. He also worked inSan Giovanni and metCorreggio, who was at work on thefresco decorations of thecupola.
In 1524, he traveled to Rome with five small paintings, including theCircumcision of Jesus and hisSelf-portrait in a Convex Mirror, seeking patronage of theMedici pope,Clement VII. Vasari records that in Rome, Parmigianino was "celebrated as aRaphael reborn". In January 1526, Parmigianino and his uncle, Pier Ilario, agreed with Maria Bufalina fromCittà di Castello, to decorate the church of San Salvatore in Lauro with an altarpiece of theVision of Saint Jerome (1526–27, National Gallery, London). Within a year, theSack of Rome caused Parmigianino, and many other artists, to flee.
He resided inBologna for nearly three years. At around 1528, he painted theMadonna and Child with Saints (Pinacoteca, Bologna), then later in 1528, he paintedMadonna con la Rosa (Dresden) andMadonna with Saint Zachariah (Uffizi). By 1530 Parmigianino had returned to Parma.
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In 1531, Parmigianino received a commission for two altarpieces, depictingSaint Joseph andSaint John the Baptist, from the unfinished church ofSanta Maria della Steccata. The brotherhood overseeing the church advanced him 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 RomanCuria, to act as his legal representative. Parmigianino authorized him to collect the 50 goldscudi from Bonifazio Gozzadini for theMadonna with St. John the Baptist and St. Zacharias.
In 1534, it was decided that theMadonna dal collo lungo (theMadonna 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 initiallyGiorgio Gandini del Grano, thenGirolamo Bedoli, to decorate theapse andchoir of theParma Cathedral.
It is believed that at this time, he became a devotee ofalchemy. Vasari hypothesizes that this was due to his fascination withmagic. 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.[citation needed] 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 byGiulio Romano, who also promptly withdrew from the contract.
Parmigianino died of a fever inCasalmaggiore on 24 August 1540 at the age of 37 years. He was buried in the church of theServite Friars, "naked with a cross made of cypress wood on his chest".
Among those closely influenced by Parmigianino were his cousinGirolamo Mazzuoli and Girolamo's sonAlessandro Mazzuoli;Pomponeo Amidano;Giacomo Bertoia; andFrancesco Borgani.[6]
Parmigianino was a pioneer of Italianetching, a technique that was pioneered in Italy byMarcantonio Raimondi, but which appealed to draughtsmen. Though the techniques of printing the copper plates required special skills, the ease with which acid, as a substitute for ink, could reproduce the spontaneity of an artist's hand attracted Parmigianino, a "master of elegant figure drawing".[7] Parmigianino also designedchiaroscurowoodcuts, which were cut by other artists. While his print output was small he had a considerable influence on Italianprintmaking. Some of his prints were executed in collaboration withGiovanni Jacopo Caraglio.
Media related toParmigianino at Wikimedia Commons
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