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Virgin and Child

Virgin and Child
Accession number: 2905

Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, Virgin and Child

Parma, mid-16th century

red chalk, pen and brown ink on paper

Artists often made preparatory studies of the Virgin and Child using their own family members as models. This fluent red-chalk drawing shows the Virgin as a young mother seated on the ground in a voluminous dress, with a fidgety toddler perched precariously on her knee. Born in Parma, the artist was a near contemporary of the more famous painter Francesco Mazzola, known as Parmigianino.

Cambridge, The Fitzwilliam Museum

Given by Augustus Arthur Vansittart, 1862

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