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Lot 98
Girolamo Francesco Mazzola, called il Parmigianino(Parma 1503-1540 Casal Maggiore)Two putti
Amended
6 December 2017, 15:30 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £17,500 inc. premium
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Girolamo Francesco Mazzola, called il Parmigianino (Parma 1503-1540 Casal Maggiore)
Two putti
pen, brown and rose-coloured wash, heightened with white on paper
8 x 5.2cm (3 1/8 x 2 1/16in).
pen, brown and rose-coloured wash, heightened with white on paper
8 x 5.2cm (3 1/8 x 2 1/16in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Sir Thomas Lawrence (Fritz Lugt 2445)
Sir Robert Witt (Fritz Lugt 2228bis)
Sale, Phillips, London, 8 July 1998, lot 63
Literature
D. Ekserdjian, 'Unpublished drawings by Parmigianino: towards a supplement to Popham's catalogue raisonne', in Apollo, CL, 450, August 1999, cat. no. 50, ill., fig. 65
S. Béguin, M. Di Giampaolo, M. Vaccaro, Parmigianino: The Drawings, Turin, 2000, pp. 205 and 243, no. 88
A. Gnann, Parmigianino: Die Zeichnungen, St.Petersberg, 2007, vol. I, p.490, no. 863, vol. II, p. 628
Engraved
Francesco Rosaspina
David Ekserjian notes in the Apollo article that the Rosaspina etching after this drawing does not include the truncated legs on the left side and it also makes greater play of the fact that one of the putti is urinating. He speculates that, as with the painting of Cupid, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, who is shown standing on a pile of books, this drawing may be an attempt by Parmigianino to parody scholarly pretentions.
Some of Parmigianino's most appealing works feature putti, such as the decorative scheme that covers the walls and ceiling of the Diana and Actaeon room at the Rocca Sanvitale, Fontanellato, near Parma.
Despite his untimely death at the age of 37, Parmigianino will be remembered as one of the most remarkably original artists of the Italian Renaissance. He was a child prodigy, completing his first altarpiece (now in Berlin) at the age of sixteen, and by twenty he was working in Rome, his outstanding virtuosity making a considerable name for him at the papal court. After the sack of Rome he went to Bologna but returned to his home city of Parma in his final years. Francesco Rosaspina (1762-1841) made etchings from many of his drawings in the 18th century, including the present work.
Saleroom notices
Please note that this drawing measures 8cm high, the catalogue illustration is not the actual size as stated.