Parmigianino

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Parmigianino

1503-1540

Marriage of the Virgin

ca. 1526

Pen and brown ink, over red chalk, on paper; verso: illegible sketch, at upper left, in pen and brown ink.

4 3/4 x 3 3/8 inches (120 x 85 mm)

Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.

I, 46b

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.

Notes:

Watermark: IHS with a cross above H. Cf. Briquet 9462.

Inscription:

Inscribed on verso, at upper left, in graphite, "1680."; at lower center, in graphite, "2".

Provenance:

Sir Charles Greville (1763-1836), English army officer (Lugt 549); George Guy Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick (1818-1893; Lugt 2600), Warwick Castle; possibly his sale, Christie's, London, 21 May 1896, lot 259; Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.

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.

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.

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