Parmigianino

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Parmigianino

1503-1540

Girl Seated on the Ground Near a Chair

ca. 1524

Pen and brown ink and wash, on paper; strips of paper added at upper and lower edges; drawing extended, in black/brown ink, by Mariette or the mounter employed by him, in these areas; laid down on Mariette mount.

5 7/8 x 5 3/16 inches (136 x 131mm)

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

IV, 46a

Description:

The drawing is one of a group of eight studies of domestic scenes which A. E. Popham dated to 1524.¹ Like the other seven drawings from this group, the Morgan sheet is not connected to any known work by Parmigianino. It is not impossible that the drawing is an alternate idea for the artist’s etching of Saint Thais, although the present sheet is most convincing as an unspecific genre scene.²

Other related drawings are in the Cincinnati Art Museum;³ Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples;⁴ the Courtauld Gallery, London;⁵ private American collections;⁶ Fondation Custodia, Paris;⁷ and the British Museum, London.⁸

Footnotes:

Popham 1971, 1: 61, no. 60.
The Illustrated Bartsch, 32: 16-17, no. 10.
Cincinnati Museum of Art, inv. 1953.115; Gnann 2007, 1: 368, no. 115.
Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples, inv. 1008; Gnann 2007, 1: 377, no. 176.
Courtauld Gallery, London, inv. D.1978.PG.96; Gnann 2007, 1: 377, no. 173.
Private collection, United Sates of America (formerly Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth); Gnann 2007, 1: 377, no. 177. Private collection, New York; Gnann 2007, 1: 370-71, no. 132.
Fondation Custodia, Frits Lugt Collection, Paris, inv. 3408; Gnann 2007, 1: 372, no. 143.
British Museum, London, inv. 1997-7-12-44; Gnann, 2007, 1: 375, no. 163.

Notes:

Watermark: none.
Mariette and his contemporaries believed that a work of art needed to be easily apprehended in order to be correctly analyzed and understood. Damages and lacunae were considered obstacles to the viewer's ability to observe and learn. It was therefore important to enhance the legibility of some sheets. This drawing by Parmigianino was only a fragment, but Mariette extended it at top and bottom. He completed the chair and the girl's gown but also added the detail of the window. -- Exhibition Label, from "Pierre-Jean Mariette and the Art of Collecting Drawings."

Inscription:

Inscribed on verso of mount, in graphite, "1679"; at lower center, in black chalk, "T".

Provenance:

Everhard Jabach, Paris (1607/10-1695; Lugt 2959; his inventory folio 65 no. 88 "Parmigianino - Une femme qui coud asise auprès d'une chaise à la plume lavé long de 7 2/3 et haut de 6 2/3 pouces 3 livres 15 sols"); Pierre-Jean Mariette, Paris (1694-1774; Lugt 2097); Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (1769-1830; Lugt 2445, lower left); William Coningham, Brighton (1815-1884; Lugt 476, lower right blindstamp); 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:

Jabach, Everhard, 1618-1695, former owner.
Mariette, Pierre Jean, 1694-1774, former owner.
Lawrence, Thomas, Sir, 1769-1830, former owner.
Coningham, William, 1815-1884, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.

Bibliography:

Selected references: Popham 1953, 34-35; Fröhlich-Bum 1958, 13; Seilern, 1959, 41-42; Popham 1971, 1: 61, under no. 60, 125, no. 322; Freedberg 1973, 149; Jaffé 1994, 235, under no. 666; Py 2002, 111, no. 349; Gnann 2000, 50; Gnann 2007, 1: 76, 88, 375, no. 164.
Dervaux, Isabelle. Drawing connections: Baselitz, Kelly, Penone, Rockburne, and the old masters. New York: Morgan Library & Museum, 2007, p. 15-16 (repr.)

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