"The Poetry of Parmigianino’s Schiava Turca”

This exhibition affords New Yorkers a rare opportunity to encounter one of the masterpieces of 16th-century Mannerist art, created by one of its greatest painters: Francesco Mazzola (1503–1540), also known as Parmigianino for his hometown of Parma, Italy. Hailed during his short life as the new Raphael, Parmigianino was particularly noted for his portraiture, and the likeness here was often compared in his own time to Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The sitter is unknown, probably a young local noblewoman. But her distinctive headgear mistakenly assigned her the Levantine origin conveyed in the title's English translation: Turkish Slave.