Artist from Parma left outstanding legacy
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Parmigianino's Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, with
which he announced himself in Rome in 1524 |
The artist Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola – better known
as Parmigianino – died on this day in 1540 in Casalmaggiore, a town on the Po
river south-east of Cremona in Lombardy.
Sometimes known as Francesco Mazzola, he was was only 37 years old when he passed away but had nonetheless made sufficient
impact with his work to be regarded as an important influence on the period
that followed the High Renaissance era of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and
Raphael.
Known for the refined sensuality of his paintings,
Parmigianino – literally ‘the little one from Parma’ – was one of the first
generation of Mannerist painters, whose figures exuded elegance and
sophistication by the subtle exaggeration of qualities associated with ideal
beauty.
Parmigianino is also thought to have been one of the first to
develop printmaking using the technique known as etching and through this medium his work was copied, and circulated to many artistic schools in Italy and other
countries in northern Europe, where it could be studied and admired.
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The church of San Giovanni Evangelista in
Parma, where Parmigianino did early work |
Parmigianino’s figures would often have noticeably long and
slender limbs and strike elegant poses. He is most famously associated with the
Madonna dal collo lungo – Madonna with
the Long Neck – which portrays a tall Virgin Mary with long, slender
fingers, long, narrow feet and a swan-like neck, cradling a particularly large
baby Jesus watched over by a group of lithe and graceful angels.
He is also remembered for The Mystic Marriage of St
Catherine, for his fresco series Legend of Diana and Actaeon, executed while he
was living in Parma, for his Vision of St Jerome, which he painted in Rome, and
for the Madonna with St Margaret and Other Saints that he worked on in Bologna
after leaving Rome to escape the sacking of the city by German troops loyal to
the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.
Parmigianino was born, as the name suggests, in Parma, in 1503,
into a large family. His father died when he was two and he was brought up by
two uncles, Michele and Pier Ilario, who were both established artists.
His uncles saw his talent at a young age and he would help
them on local commissions. His early
influence was said to be Antonio Allegri – otherwise known as Correggio, the foremost
painter of the Parma school during the Renaissance, with whom he likely worked
at the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, in Parma, where there are frescoes attributed
to Parmigianino.
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Parmigianino's Madonna with the Long Neck highlights his exaggerated style |
In common with many young artists of his era and earlier, he
moved to Rome in 1524, seeking fame and inspiration by working in the city of
so many great masters, where he could study the works of Raphael and
Michelangelo among others. He took with him his brilliantly imaginative
Self-Portrait
in a Convex Mirror, which he presented to the Papal court, after which
Giorgio
Vasari, who is recognised as art’s first historian, noted that he was hailed as
'Raphael reborn'.
Parmigianino and Pier Ilario, along with Maria Bufalina from
CittĂ di Castello, collaborated on a project at the church of San Salvatore in
Lauro that included an altarpiece of the Vision of Saint Jerome, now on show at
the National Gallery in London.
His time in Rome was cut short when the city was destroyed
by Charles V’s imperial army in 1527.
Initially, he went to Bologna, where he stayed for almost three
years. His works during that time included the Madonna and Child with Saints,
which is kept now by the Pinacoteca in Bologna and the Madonna with Saint
Zachariah, which is in the Uffizi in Florence.
By 1530 he was back in Parma, where he was paid an advance
to produce two altarpieces, depicting Saint Joseph and Saint John the Baptist, for
the unfinished church of Santa Maria della Steccata.
He painted the Madonna with the Long Neck after being commissioned
by the noblewoman Elena Baiardi to decorate her family chapel in the church of
Santa Maria dei Servi in Parma.
For all he was celebrated at his peak, however, Parmigianino
was to end his life somewhat in disgrace.
Distracted, it is thought, by his obsession with etching and
printmaking techniques, he neglected his commission with the church of Santa
Maria della Staccata and was eventually imprisoned for two months for breach of
contract and replaced with Giulio Romano.
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The monument to Parmigianino in Parma |
Released on bail, he took refuge in
Casalmaggiore, where he
died of a fever. Increasingly eccentric, he was said to have been buried in the
church of the Servite Friars naked and with a cross made in cypress wood placed
on his chest.
Many Venetian artists, including
Jacopo Bassano and
Paolo
Veronese, are said to have been strongly influenced by the emotional and dramatic
qualities in Parmigianino’s work.
Travel tip:
Despite the unhappy end to his relationship with what is now
the Basilica of Santa Maria della Steccata, Parmigianino’s status as one of
Parma’s most famous sons is celebrated with a monument immediately in front of
the church, in Piazza della Steccata, executed by the sculptor Giovanni
Chierici and inaugurated in 1879. The monument consists of a fountain and a statue.
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Piazza Garibaldi in Casalmaggiore, looking
towards Palazzo Comunale |
Travel tip:
Casalmaggiore sits alongside the Po river about 42km (26
miles) south-east from Cremona. It is an attractive town with a lively central
square, the Piazza Garibaldi, where there is a weekly market every Saturday and
regular outdoor events. Most of the town’s main sights are in the vicinity of
the square, including the imposing castellated Palazzo Comunale – the Town Hall
– built in 1788, and the Estense tower. Look out also for the Diotti or Bijou
Museum, in the basement of the former Collegio Santa Croce, which displays
jewellery, ornaments and accessories made in local factories in the late 19th
century.