Santa Margherita Madonna
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Parmigianino%2C_madonna_di_santa_margherita_01.jpg/380px-Parmigianino%2C_madonna_di_santa_margherita_01.jpg)
The Santa Margherita Madonna is a 1529-1530 oil on panel painting by Parmigianino, now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna.[1]
History
A fundamental work from the artist's time in Bologna between 1527 and 1530, it was painted for the nuns of the Santa Margherita convent. In his Lives of the Artists Vasari stated that it showed "Our Lady, Saint Margaret of Antioch, Saint Petronius, Saint Jerome and Saint Michael".[2] In 1686 Malvasia stated it had been commissioned by the Giusti family, but this was in error since that family only owned that chapel from 27 August 1529 onwards and in fact the nuns had on 8 April 1530 given the painting and 150,000 lire in exchange for a house next door to the nunnery from Giovanni Maria Giusti, so that that nobleman could decorate his chapel there as soon as the convent church was complete.
Lamo (1560) and Zanti (1583) both praised the work, adjudging it "one of the rare things, considered extremely rare". In 1674 Scaramuccia stated it was among Guido Reni's favourite paintings, whilst in 1784 father Ireneo Affò called it "the most beautiful of all" the artist's works.
References
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- Baptism of Christ (c. 1519)
- Bardi Altarpiece (c. 1521)
- Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1521–1522)
- Nativity (c. 1521–1522)
- The Circumcision (c. 1523)
- Saint Barbara (c. 1523)
- Female Martyr with Two Angels (c. 1523–1524)
- Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale (1524)
- Portrait of Lorenzo Cybo (1524)
- Sanvitale Madonna and Child (1524; fragment)
- Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (Parma; c. 1524)
- Portrait of a Collector (c. 1524)
- Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror (c. 1524)
- Holy Family with Angels (c. 1524)
- Doria Madonna (c. 1525)
- Nativity with Angels (c. 1525)
- Vision of Saint Jerome (1526–1527)
- The Conversion of St Paul (1527)
- Virgin and Child (c. 1527–1528)
- Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (c. 1528)
- Saint Roch (c. 1528)
- Adoration of the Magi (c. 1529)
- Man Holding a Book (c. 1529)
- Kedleston Madonna (c. 1529)
- Santa Margherita Madonna (1529–1530)
- Madonna of the Rose (1530)
- Boy with a Finger in His Mouth (c. 1530)
- Madonna and Child with Saint Zechariah (c. 1530–1533)
- Turkish Slave (1533)
- Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (London; c. 1529)
- Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (Louvre; c. 1529)
- Portrait of a Man (c. 1530)
- Portrait of Cecilia Gozzadini (c. 1530)
- Antea (c. 1535)
- Cupid Making His Bow (c. 1533–1535)
- Portrait of Pier Maria Rossi di San Secondo (c. 1535–1538)
- Madonna with the Long Neck (c. 1535–1540)
- Portrait of Camilla Gonzaga and Her Three Sons (c. 1539–1540; disputed)
- Lucretia (1540)
- Casalmaggiore Altarpiece (1540)
- Portrait of a Man in a Red Beret (c. 1540; disputed)