Francesco Mazzola, known as Parmigianino, was born in Parma in 1503 and died prematurely at Castelmaggiore in the province of Cremona in 1540.
The visitor travelling through our land and visiting its most important centres cannot help but notice what may be defined as one of the most tormented geniuses of the Italian Renaissance. Considered the inventor of etching, a great experimenter of new engraving techniques, for which he was deemed an alchemist, he left a limited body of works, conserved today in the most famous art galleries in the world, not only in Italian museums such as the Uffizi in Florence or the Borghese Gallery in Rome, but also in the Prado in Madrid, the National Gallery in London, the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan in New York.
Most of this painter's work, however, remains in his land of origin.