Parmigianino - Three Studies of a Male Figure seen partly in profile, perhaps abducting a female figure

GIOVANNI FRANCESO MAZZOLA, called PARMIGIANINO

Parma 1503 — 1540 Casalmaggiore

Three Studies of a Male Figure seen partly in profile, perhaps abducting a female figure

black chalk. 3 x 21/8", 25/8 x 13/4, 3 x 21/4". the largest 75 x 57mm. each inscribed in an old hand on the verso: petit figure au crayon Fran Parmigianino, and with an old inventory#: PN050, PN 299, PN (?) respectively, crossed out by a later hand and inscribed: Polidoro Caldara da Caravaggio Scuola Romana.

provenance:

Jacques Petit-Hory, Paris.

literature:

to be published by M. Cristina Chiusa in the next edition of her monograph on Parmigianino published by Electa.

These small yet tremendously dynamic figure sketches were probably intended as part of a decorative ceiling design. Perhaps they were an early but abandoned idea for the decorations of the Madonna della Steccata in Parma, such as the figures conceived within an oval, framed by an elongated octagon, in a drawing at the Victoria & Albert (#4898).1 Perhaps even more pertinent because they are technically comparable are the figures sketched within an architectural framework in black chalk or pen and ink on the verso of a sheet of decorative studies for the Steccata currently in the Galleria Estense of Modena, Inv. No. 814.2 Parmigianino worked in S. Maria della Steccata from 1531-1539. However, the extreme attenuation evident in these studies can also be found in earlier drawings from the artist's Roman period, 1523-27 (See, for instance, in the Victoria & Albert, #E2693-19203 and in the Art Institute of Chicago, #1927/33). Other comparable studies, in scale, technique and figurative style are found in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh (D 3046)4 and at the Fogg Museum, Harvard University, both of unspecified date. While dating these drawings may be difficult, the allure of these quick but highly stylized studies is certain. Indeed, they are intriguing works.

The old attribution (as indicated on the verso, see above) was first newly confirmed by Phillip Pouncey. Maria Cristina Chiusa dates these drawings circa 1535.5 She will publish these drawings in the next edition of her book on Parmigianino published by Electa.

1
Peter Ward Jackson, Italian Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Vol I, 14th-16th century, London, 1979, p.117, cat.#236, illus.
2
Jadranka Bentini, Disegni della Galleria Estense di Modena, Modena, 1989, pp.74-77.
3
Ward Jackson, op. cit., p. 113, cat. #230, illus.
4
Keith Andrews, Catalogue of Italian Drawings, National Gallery of Scotland, Cambridge, 1971, p. 88 & fig. 617.
5
Dr. Chiusa saw these drawings in Parma in December of 2002.

1	Peter Ward Jackson, Italian Drawings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Vol I, 14th-16th century, London, 1979, p.117, cat.#236, illus.
2	Jadranka Bentini, Disegni della Galleria Estense di Modena, Modena, 1989, pp.74-77.
3	Ward Jackson, op. cit., p. 113, cat. #230, illus.
4	Keith Andrews, Catalogue of Italian Drawings, National Gallery of Scotland, Cambridge, 1971, p. 88 & fig. 617.
5	Dr. Chiusa saw these drawings in Parma in December of 2002.