Lot 87. Girolamo Francesco Mazzola, called il Parmigianino (Parma 1503-1540 Casal Maggiore), Three studies of a nude female figure, bears inscription 'Parmigno' (on the reverse of the original sheet), red chalk heightened with white on laid paper, laid onto a second sheet, 6.5 x 10.3cm (2 9/16 x 4 1/16in). unframed. Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 (€17,000 - 23,000). Photo: Bonhams.

Provenance: Possibly obtained from the artist's studio by Cav. Francesco Baiardo (1486-1561)
Probably Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (1586-1646)
Giovanni Antonio Armano (1751- circa 1823)
Charles Sackville Bale (1791-1880), according to an inscription on the mount
George Salting (1835-1909), by whom given to 
Sir Charles Nicholson (1808-1903), by whom given to his son
Sir Sydney H. Nicholson (1875-1947)
Acquired by the present owner's family in the 1940s

Literature: M. Mussini and G.M. de Rubeis, Parmigianino tradotto, Parma, 2003, p. 115, no. 183 (where the print of this drawing, in reverse, is listed as 'Incisore anonimo del XVII secolo')
A.E Popham, Catalogue of the Drawings of Parmigianino, vol. I, Cambridge, 1971, p.267 (appendix I), under 208 

Engraved: Francesco Rosaspina

Note: This drawing recently came to light in an album assembled in the 19th century containing drawings by a number of different hands. It relates to the figures of maidens with vessels on their heads or canefore which are associated with Parmigianino's depiction of the Wise and Foolish Virgins on the vault of the church of Santa Maria della Steccata in his home town of Parma. His designs for the vault show the Three Wise Virgins on one side of the arch and Three Foolish Virgins on the opposite wall, against a background of trompe l'oeil coffering and fictive niche statues of Adam and Eve, Moses and Aaron. Giving the illusion that all of these figures are lit by the natural light entering the church, the Three Foolish Virgins are lit from the left and the Three Wise Virgins from the right. This tells us that the present drawing in which the figure is illuminated from the left must be a preparatory study (albeit of a naked rather than a draped woman) for the central Foolish Virgin (fig. 1). 

The Steccata commission is well documented in a contract drawn up in 1531 stating that for the sum of 400 scudi, Parmigianino was to paint the apse and the vaulted area extending beyond it towards the dome, with a condition that the work was to be completed within twelve months. Sadly this goal turned out to be hopelessly optimistic as in 1535 the commissioning body is recorded as asking for the return of the payment they had made, as work had not advanced well. With the intervention of two patrons, Francesco Baiardo (for whom Parmigianino painted the Cupid carving his bow now in Vienna) and Damiano di Pieta who stood as guarantors for him, an extension of two years was obtained, but the process had to be repeated in 1538 when he again failed to meet his deadline and the two men stood surety for him once more. By 1539 the work was still unfinished and the commissioning body finally lost patience and had Parmigianino imprisoned; on his release from gaol he fled to the nearby town of Casalmaggiore, unaware that they had banned him from having any further involvement in the project, which then passed to Giulio Romano. The following year Parmigianino died at the young age of 37. 

Despite his short career, Parmigianino will be remembered as one of the most remarkably original artists of the Italian Renaissance. He was a child prodigy, completing his first altarpiece (now in Berlin) at the age of sixteen, and by twenty he was working in Rome, his outstanding virtuosity making a considerable name for him at the papal court through works such as the extraordinary Self-portrait in a convex mirror now in Vienna. After the Sack of Rome in 1527 he moved to Bologna for three years and then returned to the city of his birth and the Steccata commission.  

As an artist Parmigianino was extraordinarily versatile, producing paintings, frescoes, great numbers of drawings (some of which were made into prints) and, latterly, making etchings himself from his own drawings. The sheer scale of his output of drawings, and the increasing regard in which these were held by 16th century collectors, has fortunately ensured that a good number have survived the centuries, but it is always gratifying when further works surface unexpectedly. We are grateful to David Ekserdjian for his help in cataloguing this lot and for pointing out that in the exhibition catalogue by Massimo Mussini and Grazia Maria de Rubeis, there is what is described as an anonymous 17th-century print (fig. 2) measuring 18.6 x 13.2 cm (see: Parmigianino tradotto, Parma, 2003, p. 115, no. 183) which reproduces this drawing in reverse and reveals two interesting facts about it: firstly that it has been substantially cropped at the bottom, and secondly that at the time the print was made, the drawing was in the collection of Giovanni Antonio Armano. The print attributes the original drawing to 'F. Mazzola' (Parmigianino), and states that it 'Extat apud Io: Ant: Armanum'. The print - although unsigned - must in fact be by Francesco Rosaspina, and Parmigianino tradotto includes numerous prints by him after drawings, of which eight belonged to the self-same Giovanni Antonio Armano, and are mostly similarly inscribed. Armano, who was a dealer-cum-collector, almost certainly had many more Parmigianino drawings, at least some of which had previously belonged to the Earl of Arundel. 

David Edserdjian further suggests that we may be able to track this drawing back to a much earlier date: it may indeed have been among Parmigianino's studio contents at the time of this death in 1540, passing into the collection of one of his guarantors, Francesco Baiardo, in all likelihood as compensation for his having stood surety for the artist. When Baiardo himself died in 1561 the detailed inventory of his collection listed no fewer than 22 paintings and 495 drawings by Parmigianino. These were kept in 8 books and the first drawing in the second book, no. 208, which was one of several sketches for the Steccata scheme, is described as 'Un' disegno di tre Vergine, della fassa della Mad.na dalla stechata di lapis rosso Lumatto di biacca, due finite et l'altra quasi finite del Parmesanino alte 04.' ('A drawing of three virgins, from the niche of the Madonna della Steccata, in red chalk heightened with lead, two finished and the other almost finished by Parmigianino 4 inches tall'), (see: A.E Popham, Catalogue of the Drawings of Parmigianino vol. I, Cambridge, 1971, p.267 (appendix I), under 208). The Parmesan inch translates as 4.5 cm, matching the size that the original drawing for the Rosaspina print would have been. The medium, subject and size therefore correspond to those of the present drawing in its original, uncropped state, making a strong argument that it is the drawing mentioned in Baiardo's inventory. 

This drawing passed through several significant collections in more recent times, starting with Charles Sackville Bale, whose wide-ranging collection was, in part, sold at auction by Christie's 13 May - 1 July 1881 in London. It then came into the hands of the wealthy Australian-born collector George Salting. Salting gave it, as part of the album from which it was recently removed, to his friend Charles Nicholson. The latter was a Yorkshire doctor who spent some years in Australia and who inherited a fortune from his uncle. He was involved with the founding of Sydney University and his bequest of a substantial collection of antiquities was the inception of the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney. His son Sydney was Salting's godson; Sydney was a talented musician who was appointed organist at Westminster Abbey (where he is buried) and who founded the Royal School of Church Music.