Portrait of a Man in a Red Beret

Last updated
Portrait of a Man in a Red Beret (c. 1540), attributed to Parmigianino Parmigianino Selfportrait 1540.jpg
Portrait of a Man in a Red Beret (c. 1540), attributed to Parmigianino

Portrait of a Man in a Red Beret or Self-Portrait in a Red Beret is an oil on paper painting attributed to Parmigianino or Michelangelo Anselmi, executed c. 1540, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Parma.

In 1968 the painting was exhibited in the Tesori nascosti della Galleria di Parma exhibition, for which it was detached from its canvas mount, revealing a studies for a Saint Catherine and a Madonna and Child on the reverse.

The art historian Ghidiglia Quintavalle theorised that the work was a late Parmigianino self-portrait, identifying it with "a coloured painting finished di lapis showing a self-portrait of the Parmesanino, 0.5 high by 4 tall", a work mentioned in a posthumous inventory of his studio. [1] However, this identification remains in doubt, since the Parma work does not have Parmigianino's usual lead graphite "di lapis" finish.

The work has been compared to the description of the artist's appearance in old age in Vasari's Lives of the Artists as "delicate and gentle, with long and battered beard and hair, almost a saviour, different from what had been". Its attribution to Parmigianino is almost unanimous among art historians and is upheld by Fagiolo dell'Arco (1970), Rossi (1980), Freedberg (1987), Di Giampaolo (1991), Gould (1994), Coliva (1998) and Chiusa (2001). Only Cirillo and Godi (1982) dissented, attributing it instead to Anselmi, with Cirillo switching it to the Parmigianino attribution in 1999.

Although it has been exhibited as Self-Portrait of Parmiganino, the attribution to Anselmi has recently been re-advanced due to stylistic details such as the ruffled hair, the soft serpentine beard and the study of the saint on the reverse, which may correspond with Anselmi's Saint Jerome and Saint Catherine (Pinacoteca di Brera).

Related Research Articles

Antonio da Correggio Italian painter of the Parma school of the Italian Renaissance

Antonio Allegri da Correggio, usually known as just Correggio, was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sensuous works of the 16th century. In his use of dynamic composition, illusionistic perspective and dramatic foreshortening, Correggio prefigured the Baroque art of the 17th century and the Rococo art of the 18th century. He is considered a master of chiaroscuro.

Parmigianino Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker (1503–1540)

Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino, was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bologna, and his native city of Parma. His work is characterized by a "refined sensuality" and often elongation of forms and includes Vision of Saint Jerome (1527) and the iconic if somewhat anomalous Madonna with the Long Neck (1534), and he remains the best known artist of the first generation whose whole careers fall into the Mannerist period.

Museo di Capodimonte Art museum, Historic site in Naples, Italy

Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italian schools of painting, and some important ancient Roman sculptures. It is one of the largest museums in Italy. The museum was inaugurated in 1957.

<i>Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale</i> Painting by Parmigianino

Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale (1524) is a painting of the condottiero Gian Galeazzo Sanvitale by the Italian late Renaissance artist Parmigianino. It is housed in the National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples, Italy.

San Giovanni Evangelista, Parma Church in Parma, Italy

San Giovanni Evangelista is a church in Parma, northern Italy, part of a complex also including a Benedictine convent and grocery.

Galleria nazionale di Parma

The Galleria nazionale di Parma is an art gallery in Parma, northern Italy.

<i>La Scapigliata</i> Painting by Leonardo da Vinci

La Scapigliata is an unfinished painting generally attributed to the Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, and dated c. 1506–8. Painted in oil, umber and white lead pigments on a small poplar wood panel, its attribution remains controversial, with several experts attributing the work to a student of Leonardo. The painting has been admired for its captivating beauty, mysterious demeanor, and mastery of sfumato.

<i>Turkish Slave</i> Painting by Parmigianino

Turkish Slave is a painting by the Italian Mannerist artist Parmigianino, executed around 1533. It is housed in the Galleria nazionale di Parma, northern Italy.

<i>Madonna of the Stairs</i> (Correggio) Fresco by Antonio da Correggio

The Madonna of the Stairs is a fresco fragment by Correggio, dating to around 1522-1523 and now in the Galleria Nazionale di Parma.

<i>Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine</i> (Parmigianino, National Gallery) Painting by Parmigianino

The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine is a c.1529 oil on panel painting of the mystical marriage of Saint Catherine by Parmigianino, now in the National Gallery, London, who acquired it in 1974. It was engraved by Giulio Bonasone.

<i>Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist</i> (Parmigianino) Painting by Parmigianino

Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist is a painting by Parmigianino, executed c. 1528. It was in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome until 1662, when it moved to Parma. There it hung in the Palazzo del Giardino and later in the Galleria Ducale - the 'Descrizione' of the latter in 1725 called it one of the finest works on display there. It and the rest of the Farnese collection were later moved to Naples and the work was exhibited for a few years in the Palazzo Reale before moving to its present home in the National Museum of Capodimonte. Two early copies remain in the Galleria Nazionale and Palazzo Comunale in Parma.

<i>Pope Paul III with a Nephew</i> Painting by Sebastiano del Piombo

Pope Paul III with a Nephew is an unfinished 1534 oil on slate portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo, now in the Galleria nazionale di Parma. The nephew's identity is unclear but the painting's presumed date suggests it may be Ottavio Farnese, whom Pope Paul III made Duke of Parma and Piacenza soon after the work's date

<i>Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine</i> (Parmigianino, National Gallery of Parma) Painting by Parmigianino

Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine or Mystic Betrothal of Saint Catherine is a c.1524 oil on canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Parmigianino. The work is now in the Galleria nazionale di Parma. Art historians argue that the work may be attributed to the period in which Parmigianino was painting his first works in the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, as also emerges from a recent restoration, which has shown that its technique is near-identical to that of Parmigianino - "no underdrawing, pigment use, descriptive speed, drafting of final shadows, using fingers and brush-ends as tools".

<i>Portrait of a Man</i> (Parmigianino) Painting by Parmigianino

Portrait of a Young Man is an oil on panel painting by Parmigianino, executed c. 1530, now in the Uffizi in Florence, whose collection it entered on 27 October 1682. Three copies survive in the Museo di Capodimonte, Rome's Accademia di San Luca and the Galleria nazionale di Parma.

<i>Lucretia</i> (Parmigianino) Painting by Parmigianino

Lucretia is a 1540 oil on panel painting of Lucretia by Parmigianino, originally in the Farnese collection and now in the Museo nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples.

<i>Female Martyr with Two Angels</i> Painting by Parmigianino

Female Martyr with Two Angels is a c.1523-1524 oil on panel painting by Parmigianino, now in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, to which it was donated in 1913 by Baroness Emilie Margarethe Beaulieu-Marconnay, member of a family of bankers and art patrons in the city.

<i>Man Holding a Book</i> 1529 painting by Parmigianino

Man Holding a Book or Man with a Book is an oil on panel painting by Parmigianino, executed c. 1529, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

<i>Self-Portrait</i> (Annibale Carracci) Painting by Annibale Carracci

Self-Portrait is a 1593 oil on canvas painting by Annibale Carracci, now in the Galleria Nazionale di Parma. It is dated 17 April 1593 on the top left of the canvas.

<i>Madonna and Child with Saints</i> (Agostino Carracci) Painting by Agostino Carracci

Madonna and Child with Saints is a 1586 oil on canvas painting by Agostino Carracci, dated on the lowest step of the Virgin Mary's throne. An example of a sacra conversazione. Long in the Benedictine abbey of San Paolo in Parma, French troops took it to Paris in 1796 and on its return to Italy in 1816 it was moved to the Galleria nazionale di Parma, where it still hangs.

<i>Madonna and Child with Saint Zechariah</i> Painting by Parmigianino

Madonna and Child with Saint Zechariah is a c.1530–1533 oil on panel painting by Parmigianino, now in the Uffizi. It shows the Madonna and Child with Zechariah, father of John the Baptist.

References

  1. (in Italian) Augusta Ghidiglia Quintavalle, Tesori nascosti della galleria di Parma, Parme, La Nazionale Tipografia, 1968, 178 p

Bibliography