The definitive book on one of the most original and inventive artists of the Renaissance period

The beauty and range of the work of the sixteenth-century artist Parmigianino as painter, draughtsman, and printmaker make him one of the most remarkable figures of the Italian Renaissance. He was an artist who seemed to discover his style without any effort, and his art was universally recognized as being graceful, or full of grace. In his day, "grace" was understood to be a spiritual endowment, conferring qualities that could not be taught. It was one of the preconditions of natural genius, so highly valued among Renaissance artists. But nothing as effortlessly elegant as Parmigianino's drawings and paintings could have been achieved without effort. It is through a close study of the drawings, in particular, that one is able to discern the sources of Parmigianino's style and the creative struggles he endured. This illustrated study offers a comprehensive reassessment of his work as a draughtsman. More than eighty works on paper, selected from collections around the world, are discussed in detail. Among Renaissance artists, Parmigianino was perhaps more conscious than any of the potential of the graphic arts to convey, and indeed broadcast, complex ideas. He explored this potential himself, not only by means of his numerous drawings but also through the etchings he produced on his own (effectively introducing this print medium into Italian art) and through the engravings and chiaroscuro woodcuts that were made after his designs. In these media, his influence travelled farther and wider than it could have through his paintings alone. This book coinciding with the quincentenary of the artist's birth in Parma in 1503, accompanies an exhibition presented at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, from October 3, 2003 to January 4, 2004, and at The Frick Collection, New York, from January 27 to April 18, 2004.

A showcase of the Courtauld Gallery's outstanding Parmigianino collection. Accompanying an exhibition at London's Courtauld Gallery, this stunning catalog presents works by the Renaissance artist Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, better known as Parmigianino (1503-1540). Fundamentally a draftsman at heart, Parmigianino drew relentlessly during his relatively short life, and around a thousand of his drawings have survived. The Courtauld's collection comprises twenty-four sheets. In preparation for the catalog, new photography and technical examinations have been carried out on all the works, revealing two new drawings that were previously unknown, hidden underneath their historic mounts. They have also helped to better identify connections between some of the drawings and the finished paintings for which they were conceived. This stunning illustrated catalog presents the whole Courtauld collection and sheds light on an artist who approached every technique with unprecedented freedom and produced innovative works that are still admired by artists and collectors today.

The exhibition aims to allow visitors to avail themselves of a selection of masterpieces from some of the world's leading museums to compare and contrast the artistic careers of two of the greatest luminaries of the Italian Renaissance ? Antonio Allegri known as Correggio (1489-1534) and Francesco Mazzola known as Parmigianino (1503-40). The formidable talent of these two artists alone placed the city of Parma in the early 16th century on an equal footing with the peninsula's other great art capitals, Rome, Florence and Venice. 0 0Correggio only travelled to Parma when he was already at the height of his career, in the late 1510s, but he was to remain in the city for the rest of his life. Some twenty of his paintings, covering his entire career, have been selected to underscore the extraordinary emotive force and expressive range that the artist put not only into his religious works but also into his mythological paintings, which were to have such a huge impact on later artists, ranging from the Carracci brothers to Watteau and even to Picasso. 0 0The exhibition 'Correggio e Parmigianino. Arte a Parma nel Ciquecento' ('Correggio and Parmigianino. Art in Parma during the 16th century') hosts such unquestioned masterpieces as the Barrymore Madonna from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Portrait of a Lady from the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Martyrdom of Four Saints from the Galleria Nazionale in Parma, the Noli Me Tangere from the Museo del Prado in Madrid, the School of Love from the National Gallery in London and the Danaë from Rome's Galleria Borghese. 00Exhibition: Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome, Italy (12.03.-26.06.2016).

Bringing together works from numerous important collections on both sides of the Atlantic, this catalogue presents a broad survey of Correggio and Parmigianino, with all the drawings illustrated in colour.

"Beginning with an examination of drawing as part of the creative process, and showing how it reveals the artist's mind at work, the author explains in detail the materials and techniques used in Renaissance drawings. It also considers how drawings were used, how they changed stylistically through the period and how they varied in different regions of Italy. It concludes with a brief look at connoisseurship and collecting."--Amazon.

A year after the book Parmigianino. I' disegni, which investigated every aspect of Parmigianino's drawings, Mary Vaccaro now analyses his paintings and the iconographical themes of the great artist's altar paintings. Illustrated with magnificent colour plates and black and white photographs, this extremely well documented monograph is a fundamental, and the most up-to-date, contribution to studies on Parmigianino the painter.

Raman Spectroscopy in Archaeology and Art History highlights the important contributions Raman spectroscopy makes as a non-destructive method for characterising the chemical composition and structure and in determining the provenance and authenticity of objects of archaeological and historical importance. It brings together studies from diverse areas and represents the first dedicated work on the use of this technique in this increasingly important field. Coverage includes: An Introduction to Raman Spectroscopy, including practical aspects of Raman spectroscopy and complementary techniques; Dyes and Pigments; Artefacts; Biological Materials and Degradation; Jewellery and Precious Stones. The book contains a broad selection of real-world examples in the form of case studies to provide the reader with a true appreciation of the procedures that need to be invoked to derive spectroscopic information from some of the most challenging specimens and systems. Colour illustrations of objects of investigation and a database of 72 Raman spectra of relevant minerals are included. With its extensive examples, Raman Spectroscopy in Archaeology and Art History will be of particular interest to specialists in the field, including researchers and scientific/conservation staff in museums. Academics will find it an invaluable reference to the use of Raman spectroscopy.