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Bulletin 4 (II:2) 1964 |
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Two
Drawings by Parmigianino The Ottawa drawing is unique in one respect, in having an arched
top, and this must imply that the shape of the panel had not yet
been decided on and that it represents a definitely early stage in
the production of the picture. It does not however follow that it is
the earliest conception to have reached us. I think this can
be claimed for the study in the Parma Gallery (16) (Fig. 8), in which
the position of the Virgin, seated to the right, corresponds more or
less with that of the Louvre drawings (Figs. 4 and 5) and that at
Ottawa (Fig. 6), but here the Infant Christ steps off a sort of
pedestal on the left to take the breast which His mother offers Him.
The peculiar thing about this sketch is that here St Jerome is lying
on the ground reading from a book, most unconventional
behaviour on the part of any saint in the presence of the Virgin and
Child. In spite of his unique posture he is immediately
recognizable as the St Jerome of the other drawings by the gesture
of his hand placed on his head. Indeed it is he and this gesture
which clinch the connection with the Madonna dal collo lungo, which
might otherwise have remained in some doubt. In this drawing
too we find the genesis of the much admired right arm and hand of
the Virgin: here the hand is offering the breast to the Child. In
the drawing at Ottawa and the connected ones in the Louvre the hand
is supporting the Child: next, the position of the Virgin is
reversed and the hand and arm are now functionless, but Parmigianino
realized the elegance of the gesture and turned what was in fact
meaningless into something of importance to his design. The gesture
has come to epitomize Parmigianino's idea of venustà and grazia. The second of the two drawings (Fig. 9) is a carefully finished
pen and ink study of a nude warrior seen from the back. Presumably
he is intended to represent the god of war. He holds a shield in his
left and the hilt of what may be a sword or a banner aloft in his
right hand; (17) behind him on the left is a cuirass, on the ground
by his left foot a shield and a halberd; a baying hound crouches on
the ground to the right, and on the same side is a leafless
tree-stump against which Jeans a sword. There are puzzling questions
raised by this drawing: first, its shape; it is contained in a
curious irregular figure; secondly, its outlines are pricked in the
manner which is usually found in cartoons for embroidery, though its
scale and character make it almost impossible that it should have
been intended for such a purpose. Prompted by the subject, I had
thought that the design might have been made for engraving or
etching on armour, but I have it on the best authority that the
shape does not conform to any of the pieces which go to make up a
suit of armour, and pricking is not the usual method for
transferring a design onto metal. Were the drawing complete - a
portion at the top comprising the sword or banner is obviously
missing - a solution of the problem might have been easier, but as
it stands the purpose of the drawing must remain a mystery. The
finely pricked outlines, I should add, though they are of the type
usually associated with cartoons for the embroidery of vestments or
altar cloths, are also sometimes used for transferring a design to a
panel (a familiar example is Raphael's cartoon for the Knight's
Dream in the London National Gallery). The drawing is in any
case a unique example, as far as I know, of a drawing by
Parmigianino which served as a cartoon, apart from designs made for
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