(Parma 1503–1540 Casalmaggiore)
Madonna and Child with Saints, c. 1521–23, red chalk on laid paper, with watermark “Hat”, 24,6 x 19 cm, inscribed “A. di Vaa... s.” in pen and brown ink at upper left of the reverse, numbered “20” at lower left and “100”at lower right, mounted, framed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection Italy / Vienna, until 1968 (as unknown master); Private collection Vienna, since 1968.

Literature:
Achim Gnann, Parmigianino - Die Zeichnungen, Petersberg 2007, Vol. 2, Appendix 1 (Ill.); Achim Gnann, “Neue Zuschreibungen an Parmigianino”, in: Kunst und Humanismus. Festschrift für Gosbert Schüßler zum 60. Geburtstag, Edited by W. Augustyn and E. Leuschner, Passau 2007, pp., 247–260, p. 247 ff., Fig. 1.

With a certificate written by Dr. Achim Gnann, 24th August 2021 (copy)

The present drawing with the study for a Madonna with Child and Saints is one of the rare early drawings by Parmigianino which the artist executed prior to his journey to Rome in 1524. Contrary to other early sheets which are mainly figure studies the present drawing is a complete compositional design which may have prepared a painting. Stylistically the strong influence of Correggio which was formative for Parmigianino in his early work is recognizable in the present sheet. The figure of Mary with her head bent to one side, the veil covering the most part of her forehead and the sentimental, slightly melancholic expression in the face recall Correggio’s Madonna Campori in Modena, the Madonna with music-making angels in the Uffizi or the Madonna in Vienna (David Ekserdjian, Correggio, Cinisello Balsamo, Milan 1997, Figs. 62, 40, 55).

For the drawing’s style and the dating of the present study Achim Gnann remarks: “The shaping of the figure through vigorous curved lines and the outlining of the bodies through summarized swinging contours are characteristic for Parmigianino and can also be observed in the early drawing Madonna with Child and Saints in the Albertina (c. 1519–1521). The figures’ extremely lively and rhythmical movements show grace and beauty even though they have rich contrappostos which can be found in sheets such as in the drawing of a backward-looking female figure by Parmigianino in the Metropolitan Museum or a Resting Shepherd in Princeton (Arthur E. Popham, Catalogue of The Drawings of Parmigianino, New Haven and London 1971, No. 601, Plate 50, No. 295, Plate 10, No. 331, Plate 73). Like those sheets the present drawing shows similar swinging outlines and broad hatchings which connect the figures with each other and their surroundings. The faintly indicated architecture in the drawing’s background which is structured by pillars, small apertures and an arcade in the middle which emphasizes the Madonna can be found in a design in Paris for the painting Holy Family in the Prado, in a drawing featuring Christ Among the Doctors in Oxford and in a preliminary drawing in Paris for a Circumcision in Detroit which all belong to the early phase of the artist (Popham 1971, Nr. 396, Plate 14, Nr. 331, Plate 77, Nr. 369, Plate 5)”.

Even though the design cannot be connected with a work which was executed by Parmigianino, the drawing is stylistically related to studies for the so-called Bardi-altar and the painting the Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine in the Chiesa di Santa Maria di Bardi in Parma. A. Popham related several drawings in the Uffizi in Florence to the Bardi-altar and dated the group to 1524 (Arthur E. Popham, Catalogue of the Drawings of Parmigianino, New Haven and London 1971, Nos. 69r, 69v, 70v, 76r, 76v). Due to stylistic characteristics Mary Vaccaro dated the studies earlier around 1521 and connected the present drawing with the execution date of the Uffizzi sheets. (M. Vaccaro, in: Parmigianino. I disegni, edited by S. Béguin, M. di Giampaolo, M. Vaccaro, Turin 2001, pp. 61 ff., pp. 67-68.) Maria Cristina Chiusa also dated the drawings to the early creative period of Parmigianino around 1522-23. She pointed out the morphological resemblances of the figures with the fresco of Saints Stephen and Lawrence in the second left chapel in the Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista in Parma. The inventory of the drawings by Parmigianino in the collection formed by Cavaliere Bajardi mentions several thematically comparable studies with a Madonna and Child surrounded by saints, angels and putti, whose description, however, cannot clearly be connected with the present design. (comp. Popham 1971, Vol. 1, Appendix 1, pp. 266-267, Nos. 84, 86, 107; p. 268, No. 295; p. 269, Nos. 504–524). The inscription and the numbers on the sheet’s verso may point to a collector’s annotation and the early provenance of the sheet is hardly traceable as the drawing is not mentioned in the earlier literature. In 2007 Achim Gnann rediscovered the drawing and identified it as an early sheet by Parmigianino and included it in his catalogue raisonné (A. Gnann, Parmigianino, Die Zeichnungen, 2 Vols., Petersberg 2007, Appendix 1). The present drawing represents a valuable addition to the graphic work of Parmigianino’s early creative period.

We are grateful to Achim Gnann for the confirmation of the attribution after having examined the drawing in original and for his scientific support. The attribution was confirmed Prof. Mary Vaccaro und Dr. Maria Cristina Chiusa on the basis of a high resolution digital photograph.