Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola was a Mannerist painter born in Parma. He was also known as 'Parmigianino' or 'the little one from Parma'. Not only was he one of the most successful and well known painters of the first generation of Mannerism painting, he was also a known printmaker. He was a genius in his passion as he was already diving in major fresco works by the time he turned eighteen. Mannerism in essence exaggerates bodily proportions and ideal beauty resulting in assymetrical and unnatural angles. In fact, one of the most famous and well known paintings was Parmigianino's "Madonna with the long neck". Mazzola was celebrated as the Raphael Reborn when he travelled to Rome with his works
He had worked on the Church of San Salvatore. Interestingly, Mazzola has reportedly started practicing alchemy. Modern scholars hypothize that this was done to find a new medium for his works. "Antea'", also known as the Portrait of a young woman is one of his creations. The identity of the sitter is unknown. The lady is elegantly dressed in a yellow atlas silk dress. She is wearing a pine master fur over her shoulder. The head of the animal is still intact and it's nose is pierced with a ring attached to a chain that she is holding. The woman is undoubtedly wealthy. Plus, the unnatural broadness of her shoulder depicts Parmigianino's Mannerist style.
When I look at Parmigianino’s portrait of the young woman known as Antea, I feel both drawn in and slightly unsettled. Her identity is still unknown, and the romantic story that she was the artist’s lover seems unlikely to me. Painted around 1535 in Parma, at the same time as the Madonna with the Long Neck, she may even have been a studio model.
What strikes me most is the quiet display of wealth and status. The yellow atlas-silk dress, the patterned bodice, the white apron, and especially the pine-marten fur stole with its chained head all speak of refinement and privilege. Her unusually broad shoulder and delicate jewellery feel typically Mannerist—beautiful yet slightly unnatural.
To me the painting represents more than a likeness. It captures an ideal of elegance and mystery. Her calm, direct gaze makes me wonder who she really was, and that unanswered question is what stays with me longest.
