(Parma 1503–1540 Casalmaggiore)
Madonna della Mela,
oil on panel, 16.5 x 13 cm, with an inlaid frame

Provenance:
Probably from the collection of Jacques Laure de Tonnelier, called Le Bailli de Breteuil (1722–1785), who between 1758 and 1771 was ambassador of the Knights of Malta to the Holy See in Rome (as Parmigianino, cf. B. Bossi’s 1761 engraving based on the painting);
Probably sold at Finarte auction, Milan, 29 October 1964 (as Parmigianino);
English Private Collection;
Sotheby’s auction, London, 2 May 2012, lot 31 (as ‘Parmese School of the 16th Century’)

Literature:
Possibly P. Bellini, L’Opera Incisa Adamo e Diana Scultori, Vicenza 1991, p. 211, ill. 248

We are grateful to Mina Gregori, who has confirmed the present painting as an autograph work by Parmigianino after its recent cleaning (written communication).
We are also grateful to Emilio Negro and Nicosetta Roio for independently identifying the present picture as an autograph work by Parmigianino (written communication).
David Ekserdijan has confirmed his hypothesis, already suggested in 2012, that the painting must go back to a model executed by Parmigianino which is now probably lost.

In 1761 Benigno Bossi published an engraving based on a painting by Parmigianino then in the Breteuil Collection (see ill.). The print appears to exactly reproduce the present composition in the reverse. The engraving and the present painting have almost identical dimensions. A very similar drawing now preserved in the Uffizi in Florence was reproduced by Diana Ghisi in the 16th century with an indication of the artist as Parmigianino. Another print based on Parmigianino’s drawing was executed by Stefano Mulinari. An oil painting of almost identical dimensions was sold at Finarte in Milan in 1964 and was identified by Paolo Bellini as an original work by Parmigianino. It cannot be established with absolute certainty whether the present composition and the Milanese painting are the same object (an opinion held by Emilio Negro).

The present work reflects Parmigianino’s early style. After his father’s death, the artist was raised by two uncles, Michele and Pier Ilario, who in 1515 were commissioned to decorate a chapel in the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Parma. Their work was probably completed by the young Parmigianino. At the age of eighteen, the artist painted the Bardi Altarpiece. In 1521, he was sent to the remote town of Viadana in order to escape the turmoil of war.

The present composition can be regarded as a characteristic example of the artist’s early period in Parma (circa 1522). Typical features are the slight elongation of the figures and the delicate painting technique, both of which anticipate the artist’s Mannerist style.