High Renaissance & Mannerism
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, known as Parmigianino, was an Italian mannerist painter. He was born on January 11th, 1503, and sadly passed away on August 24th, 1540. He was most known for painting beautifully elegant portraits with a soft and smooth complexion.
1)Arguably his most famous painting is Madonna with the Long Neck. This painting portrays the Virgin Mary seated high with velvety cushions while 6 angels visit on her right. She is painted holding baby Jesus in a very casual and relaxed manner and is given the beauty of a long neck to give the resemblance of a graceful and elegant swan, which can also be spotted in The Birth of Venus by Botticelli (2).
Parmigianino painted his first and only self-portrait at the young age of twenty-one. He painted it using a technique of either looking into a convex mirror and painting what you see or including a convex mirror into your artwork. This was first spotted in Jan Van Eyck’s painting, The Arnolfini Portrait, where it can be found behind the two subjects against a wall (4).
Antea, also known as Portrait of a Young Woman, is one of Parmigianino’s most famous paintings and arguably is one of the more beautiful portraits of High Renaissance, second to the Mona Lisa (6). Fun fact! Portrait of Antea is mentioned and shown in the Gilmore Girls episode, The Festival of Living Art (7).
The Vision of Saint Jerome is known to be Parmigianino’s most important and outstanding piece. This painting is clearly split in two, an upper and lower half, giving attention to the Virgin Mary holding Baby Jesus between her legs as Saint Jerome can be found lying down, sleeping soundly. At the same time, his vision of John the Baptist kneels in the foreground.
Lorenzo Cybo was the captain of the Swiss guard and was Duke of Ferentillo. Parmigianino depicts Lorenzo as a strong, handsome Italian full of strength and power while holding a relaxed and casual pose.