Half-figure of a Man Making Music

Author: Surya Stemerding

This study may be the top half of a drawing, now trimmed, of a standing or seated figure from a larger composition. It is a forceful, energetic sheet that combines short, curved lines with longer, flowing contours, rapid hatching and washes to define volume. The figure’s pose is equally dynamic. The model is seen from a slightly raised vantage point, with his shoulders turned towards the viewer, his left arm extended to bottom left and the upper right arm raised towards top right. The resulting diagonal movement is reinforced by the concentrated gaze that the figure, in profile to the left, has fastened on the sheet of music in his left hand. His tousled hair is rendered with short brushstrokes that underscore the dynamism of the scene as a whole.

The drawing is not related to a known painting or fresco by Parmigianino, so it is not clear who the figure is intended to be. The banderole suggests that he is a musician, and the lack of a musical instrument suggests that he could be a singer.

Popham (1971) allocated the drawing on stylistic grounds to Parmigianino’s Roman period (1524-27), citing a preliminary study for St Jerome’s Vision (c.1526) in the Louvre.^[1] Vaccaro, though, preferred the Parmesan period, which concurs with stylistic similarities to two drawings in Paris and Vienna.^[2]

Parmigianino left Parma in 1524 to try his luck in Rome. The principal Parmesan artist at the time was Correggio (Antonio Allegri, c. 1489-1534), whose influence is readily apparent in Parmigianino’s early work. Their rivalry was probably why Parmigianino departed for Rome, where he remained until its fall in 1527. While there he was influenced by the monumental works of Raphael (1483-1520) and Michelangelo (1475-1564).^[3]

Unlike many of his Emilian colleagues, Parmigianino left an impressive drawn oeuvre.^[4] He differed from Correggio, who only drew the component parts of his compositions at a late stage in the design process. Parmigianino developed his inventions from the very first idea. His biographer Vasari said that he was born with a pen in his hand.