Mercury

c. 1523/1524

Parmigianino

Associated Names
Parmigianino

Artist, Parmese, 1503 - 1540

This is a sketch of a standing male figure. The person has a slightly bent posture, implying movement. The facial features are faint, and the figure appears muscular. The hair is loosely rendered. The figure is nude and holds a staff in one hand with minimal detail. The background has light shading but no specific environmental details. The artwork seems to be an early or rough pencil or charcoal sketch.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    black chalk on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. Alice Steiner

  • Dimensions

    overall: 14.5 x 10.3 cm (5 11/16 x 4 1/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1987.79.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Marquis C. de Valori (Lugt 2500); Jacques Petit-Hory, Paris, by 1984; Mrs. Alice Steiner; gift to the NGA, 1987.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1988

  • Italian Renaissance Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1988, no cat.

Bibliography

1984

  • De Grazia, Diane. Correggio and His Legacy, Sixteenth-Century Emilian Drawings. Exhibition catalogue: National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1984: 154, under no. 42, fig. 42a.

2000

  • Bambach, Carmen, et al. Correggio and Parmigianino. Master Draughtsmen of the Renaissance. Exhibition catalogue: British Museum, London, 2000: 112, under no. 69.

Inscriptions

in later hand, upper left in brown ink: 175 (?); in later hand, lower center verso in graphite, circled: J (?)

Wikidata ID

Q64618807

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