The art of Parmigianino (1503–1540) is exquisitely elegant and innovative. Called “Raphael reborn,” he was the most influential Mannerist painter. Although he died at only 37, he had a prolific 20-year career. He is believed to have been the first Italian artist to make etchings, and this was key in the wide dissemination of his art throughout Italy and Europe.
Parmigianino painted religious scenes, frescos, and portraits. In portraits, he captured refined courtly sitters, and the 16th-century Venetian humanist Ludovico Dolce declared, “Parmigianino endowed his creations with a certain beauty which makes whoever looks at them fall in love with them.” Among his most esteemed pictures is the enigmatic “Schiava Turca.”
