Parmigianino: Madonna and Child with Angels and Saint Jerome ( 1534-1540)

 

(The Uffizi, Florence, Italy)

A painting by the Italian artist Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (1503 – 1540), better known as Parmigianino. This painting was commissioned by Elena Baiardi Tagliaferri, the sister of Parmigianino’s friend and patron Francesco Baiardi, for the funerary chapel of her husband, Francesco Tagliaferri, in the church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Parma. The painting shows the Virgin Mary holding a very large baby Jesus on her lap. Six angels crowded together on Madonna's right adore the Christ-child. In the background is a row of marble columns and Saint Jerome. A depiction of Saint Jerome was required by the commissioner because of the saint's connection with the adoration of the Virgin Mary. Because of the length of the neck of Mary, the painting is also known as "The Madonna with the Long Neck". Painting from 1534-1540.