Parmigianino was a passionate and prolific draughtsman. Almost one thousand sheets have survived, representing the richest drawing oeuvre of sixteenth-century Italy, with the exception of Leonardo. The diversity of the themes and techniques of the twenty autograph drawings in the Collection of Prints and Drawings represent every period of the artist’s career and provide an insight into his magnificent art.

Parmigianino was the first Italian artist to experiment with etching, and he formed ties with the renowned printmakers in Rome, the most prosperous centre of printmaking of the period he lived in. Some of the most beautiful sheets in the history of printmaking originate from Parmigianino’s collaboration with the engraver Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, the woodcutter Ugo da Carpi, and later with Antonio da Trento in Bologna. Almost all of Parmigianino’s own etchings and some prints after his designs by various artists are found in our collection. Some fifty exhibited sheets provide an insight into the unfolding and most prosperous period of Italian printmaking.

While the art of Parmigianino had to be rediscovered in the twentieth century, there are only a few artists who have had such a great influence throughout the centuries. He had followers in Northern Italy, and his paintings, drawings and prints were highly esteemed by foreign artists who visited Italy as well as those working in the courts of Prague and Fontainebleau. To illustrate the extensive influence of Parmigianino, drawings and prints have been selected for the exhibition from the collection in the Museum of Fine Arts.

The major part of the eighty exhibited sheets has never been displayed before. A richly illustrated catalogue in English and Hungarian will by published by the curator of the exhibition, Zoltán Kárpáti."

Parmigianino – The Alchemy of Beauty – until 15th March 2009

Tuesday-Sunday: 10 am – 6 pm (cashier: 10 am – 5 pm)

On Thursdays until 10 pm, as part of the Museum + events (admission from 5 pm, only with tickets purchased for the Museum + events)

Closed on Mondays

Source: Museum Of Fine Arts, Budapest
Address: Dózsa György út 41, 1146 Budapest
Telephone: +36 1 469 7100