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Old Master Mary and Circumcision of Christ Parmigianino
| Start Price |
USD 3,500,000.00 |
| Current Price |
USD 3,500,000.00 |
| Time Left |
- |
| Bid Count |
0 |
| Buy It Now Price |
- |
| Reserve Price |
- |
| Start Time |
Monday, October 13, 2008 |
| End Time |
Monday, October 20, 2008 |
| Location |
connecticut |
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See more about 'Old Master Mary and Circumcision of Christ Parmigianino'
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Description
Highly important Old Master oil on mahogany board of the Holy Family by Italian artist Parmigianino 1503 - 1540. Measures 13 1/4" x 10". Composition repeats many elements found in Parmigianinos most famous painting Madonna with the Long Neck and is suggestive of the act of circumcision. In traditional jewish religion circumcision takes place on the 8th day of a newborn male. this suggection is achieved by having Christ exposing himself more than in the typical painting of Mary and Christ, there is a basket below the figures with scheers, and Joseph can be seen in the background shaving wood with a plane. Christ appears to be restless knowing some discomfort is about to happen and it appears to amuse Mary who playfully restrains the baby's arms. The whole scene can be thought of as foreshadowing the destiny of Jesus and the apprehension he would suffer on the eve of his crucifixion. The Madonna with the long neck has a similar foreshadowing of fate by posing the baby Jesus in a corpse posture closely resembling Michelangelos posing of the dead body of Christ in his most famous work The Pieta marble. The topic of circumcision can be found in a number of Parmigianino artworks most notably "The Circumcision" held in the Detroit Intstitute Museum . Another is his painting of cupid who hold a sharp knife precariously close to the crotch. Apart from being one of the greatest genius artist to ever live, Parmigianino suffered severely from mental illness and this recurring subject of circumcision in his artworks may indicate some phobia or sexual disfunction in his personal life. The technical ability shown in this painting seen in the flesh and fabric color toning is beyond superb and shows the greatest eminence of talent to be seen in art. I would hope people can objectivily see with their own eyes the amount of color blending in the flesh and fabric executed with such exquisite perfection. The ability to paint flesh with such correctness of color whithout showing any texture in the paint is exceedingly rare . Raphael is widely considered one of the top giant 3 top artist ever to live in all of world history. The most prominant student of Raphael was Giulio Romano, and the most significant student of Giulio Romano was Parmigianino, which makes him in a way Raphael's artistic grandson . Below is shown a master work of Madonna and Christ by Giulio Romano for comparison. Note the use of eggplant color purple in Mary's robe that surrounds Christ. Purple was a very expensive rare color in the middle ages becasue the dye could only be obtained from seashells. It is traditionally the color of Kings. Parmigianino uses the same unusual eggplant color purple in this painting. Note how well the purple color is gently reflected into the white fabric and white flesh. Within each colored object there are dozens of subshades in fluid seamless variegation. The woman modelling as Madonna has familiar distinctive face to all other Parmigianino Madonnas. Body anatomy shows the subtile distortions that exemplify the "mannerist" trend in post Renaissance art that Parmigianino was the leading creator. The head does not bend in such a way that the chin can sink so far into the neck as to tilt the facial profile into a horizontal line. Fingers do not bend naturally in such directions as in Mary's hand. The background has a single wide column , a feature found in many Parmigianino works. Again the column with Joseph planing repeats the similar composure of the Madonna with Long Neck which has a background of massive column and greek man reading scroll down the right side. The colors in the painting show exceptional variety and beauty. Sky at upper right corner is a teal green. The Madonna with the Long neck is a painting studied in every competant art history class and is among the worlds most recognizable works of art. Below is a side by side comparison. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The halo of Christ is glowing from the back of the head same as in "The Circumcision" painting. The same basket is also along the bottom edge as seen in "The Circumcision" . Basket in both paintings is braided in same style with 3 thick chords of wicker. Back of the mahogany panel could easily be mistaken as 19th century era because it is so clean and smooth. However, that would not be correct judgement as more careful examination shows the subtle U shaped gouges of a wood chisel. This panel is not formed by industrial revolution era saw milling. Yet the chisseling is so careful and professional back has the look of a perfectly smooth surface. Also looking at the glue residue along the edge it is clear this panel was glued into some kind of frame that had the back sealed and was never exposed to the elements. So the wood is remarkably clean and never cracked or warped. there is some alligator craising to the paint, mainly in the hair and sky but nothing that I think needs restoration. Found without a frame. This painting does not copy or approximate any known work by Parmigianino or other artist being entirelu unique and original. Parmigianino had no circle of students follwing him around so this artwork cannot in any way be defines as a copy or "circle of" Parmigianino. No signature has been found and most of the known Parmigianino oil paintings do not appear to be signed. Some art buyers have the attitude that if a fine artwork is not being offered by one of the 2 monopoly art auctioneers in NY City it must not be right. However, one of those auction houses is currently being sued for losing a $35 million dollar Parmigianino artwork given to them as a consignement. So I have my reasons for not wanting to deal with the abusive world of corporate art auctioneering. As for authenticity, any buyer is purchasing MY expertise and will receive a formal written letter of opinion and a list of professional educational credentials, provenance as per ebay code of conduct for selling and guaranteeing the authenticity of art listings . Any hard facts about the artwork that disprove authenticity entitle a return and full refund. Ask for more details if seriously interested. Buyer pays $10.00 mail. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------BELOW IS MADONNA AND CRIST BY PARMIGIANINO'S TEACHER GIULIO ROMANO SHOWS FOR EDUCATIONAL COMPARISON PURPOSES ONLY AND NOT INCLUDED IN THE SALE------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BELOW ARE SOME IMAGES OF OTHER PARMIGIANINO ARTWORKS SHOWN FOR COMPARISON EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND NOT INCLUDED IN THE SALE----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BELOW IS A CLOSEUP COMPARISON OF THE BASKETS FROM THIS PAINTING AND THE CIRCUMCISION PAINTING IN DETROIT INSTITUTE-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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