Parmigianino is an acclaimed painter of the Italian Mannerists*, who also worked in printmaking and Alchemy later in life. Born Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, he retained his artistic name from his birthplace of Parma, Italy. Taken under the care of his uncles, Michele and Pier Ilario, he learned painting from them at a young age. Parmigianino collaborated with them and even completed commissions his uncles did not fulfill later in life.

In just his early twenties, Parmigianino had already executed frescos* in the church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Parma. He was a daring artist who liked to experiment with unorthodox compositions, but also praised for his archetypal mannerism, as Giorgio Vasari noted, he was celebrated as...