Parmigianino
1503-1540
Marriage of the Virgin
ca. 1526
4 3/4 x 3 3/8 inches (120 x 85 mm)
Pen and brown ink, over red chalk, on paper; verso: illegible sketch, at upper left, in pen and brown ink.
I, 46b
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
Notes
Watermark: IHS with a cross above H. Cf. Briquet 9462.
Description
The present drawing is a study for the central group – the Virgin, Joseph, and High Priest – in Parmigianino’s drawing of the Marriage of the Virgin, now in Chatsworth, which Jacopo Caraglio engraved in around 1526.1 A. E. Popham noted that the watermark occurs in a number of drawings by Correggio and some drawings by Parmigianino dating from his early period in Parma.2 Two further drawings in the Morgan’s collection relate to the engraved composition, one of which (inv. I, 48) also contains the same watermark.3
Footnotes:
- The Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth, inv. 339; Jaffé 1994, 244, no. 677. For the print, see The Illustrated Bartsch 28: 77, no. 1.
- Popham 1971, 1: 121, no. 305.
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York, inv. I, 46b and I, 48.
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed on verso, at upper left, in graphite, "1680."; at lower center, in graphite, "2".
Associated names
Greville, Charles, 1762-1832, former owner.
Warwick, George Guy Greville, Earl of, 1818-1893, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Morgan, J. P. (John Pierpont), 1867-1943, former owner.
Warwick, George Guy Greville, Earl of, 1818-1893, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Morgan, J. P. (John Pierpont), 1867-1943, former owner.
Bibliography
Selected references: Washington and elsewhere 1962-63, 25, under no. 42; New York 1965-66, 59, no. 92; Popham 1971, 1: 121, no. 305; Jaffé 1994, 244, no. 677; Gnann 1996, 362; Gnann 2000, 70; Gnann 2007, 1: 412, no. 398.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
Department