As noted by Rossana Muzii, the Morgan study derives from Parmigianino’s sketch, now in the Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples, of two women carrying vessels on their heads.1 Though the drawing was not included in A. E. Popham’s catalog of the Parmigianino’s drawings or David Ekserdjian’s supplement, the relationship between the Naples sketch and the Morgan drawing convinced Achim Gnann to include the latter in his more recent catalog.2 The present study – like a later drawing by Parmigianino, also in the Morgan’s collection – reveals the influence of Raphael’s Fire in the Borgo.3
Footnotes:
- Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples, inv. 1024; Gnann 2007, 1: 433, no. 525.
- Gnann 2007, 1: 434, no. 529.
- Morgan Library & Museum, New York, inv. 1981.92.
Watermark: none.
Inscribed on mount, at lower right, in pen and brown ink, "Parmens"; in lower right corner, "No. 3"; on verso of lining, in pen and brown ink, "f(?)/ 0 (a fraction)".
Saint-Saphorin, Armand-François-Louis de Mestral de, 1738-1805, former owner.
Scholz, János, former owner.
Selected references: Scholz 1976, 14, no. 35 (as Parmigianino); Notre Dame 1980, no. 143; Muzii 1994, 299; Gnann 2007,1 : 434, no. 529.