PARMIGIANINO (FrancescoMazzola)
1503-154 0
28 Studies of Saints John the
Baptist and Jerome, a Crucifix,
and Various Heads
r
Studies of the Christ Child, a
Crucifix, and a Dog
v
Red chalk; H: 15.1 cm'(5^/16 in.); W: 22.1 cm (8"/i6 in.)
87.06.9
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Recto) at bottom left cor-
ner, collection marks of Sir Thomas Lawrence (L. 2445),
Count Nils Barck (L. 1959), N. Dhikeos.
PROVENANCE: Sir Thomas Lawrence, London; Count
Nils Barck, Paris and Madrid; N. Dhikeos, Lyons; art
market, New York.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.
THIS RECENTLY REDISCOVERED SHEET WAS ONCE IN
the collection of drawings by Parmigianino belonging to
Thomas Lawrence, of which a significant group passed
to Nils Barck. It was made as a study for an altarpiece,
the Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Je-
rome (National Gallery), on which Parmigianino was
working when he fled Rome in 1527. The recto shows
the two saints parallel to one another in the foreground,
as in the important study for the whole composition in
the British Museum, London (inv. 1882-8-12-488),
while the specific poses are very close to those in a study
of the two saints in the Stadelsches Kunstinstitut, Frank-
furt (inv. 13772). These and the Getty drawing must have
been done relatively early in the evolution of the com-
position, since the figure of Saint Jerome is shown sleep-
ing in the right middle ground and the Baptist kneels at
the center in the painting. In the Frankfurt drawing the
Baptist is clearly standing, whereas on the recto of the
Museum's sheet his pose is somewhat ambiguous. The
style of the recto is highly correggesque; the head of Saint
Jerome is reminiscent of Saint Peter in the cupola fresco
by Correggio in San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma.
The verso contains a study of the Christ child sim-
ilarly for the altarpiece now in London, rendered in
strong contrapposto; there is also a sketch of the crucifix
held by Saint Jerome. Lastly and unexpectedly, the most
prominent feature is the dog standing at the right, who
is lightly sketched in a different pose below. A dog of this
type appears in the frescoes at the Rocca of Fontanellato
and also in a drawing of the 15305 (Melbourne, National
Gallery of Victoria inv. 358/4). It should be noted, how-
ever, that the dog on the Getty verso is closely similar in
pose and in the rendering of the chain around his neck to
the one at Fontanellato, and that—absent other details on
the sheet—one would be tempted to consider it a study
for the latter. Given the chronological problems this
would engender in terms of the dating of the Fontanel-
lato frescoes and the London altarpiece, it should be con-
cluded that either the similarity between the dogs is ac-
cidental or that Parmigianino had the image from the
fresco in mind when he made this sheet in Rome two or
three years later.78 ITALIAN SCHOOL • PARMIGIANINO