Parmigiano
or PARMIGIANINO, the nickname of GIROLAMO FRANCESCO MARIA MAZZOLA, an Italian painter of the Lombard school, and the most distinguished of those who followed the style of Correggio; born in Parma, Jan. 11, 1504. H He began to paint when little more than 14 years of age. In 1523 he went to Rome, and was employed by Clement VII. When that city was stormed by the imperalists under Con- PARNELL stable Bourbon in 1527 Parmigiano sat calmly at work on his picture of "The Vision of St. Jerome" (now in the National Gallery, London), and was protected from the soldiers by their leader. After this event he went to Bologna. where he painted the altar-piece, the "Madonna and Child," and returned to Parma in 1531. Having engaged to execute a series of frescoes in the Church of St. Maria Steccata, and being paid the money in advance, he delayed the work so long that he was imprisoned.
After release he fled to Casal Maggiore: territory of Cremona, where he died on Aug. 24, 1540. His best-known picture is "Cupid Shaping a Bow"; he painted portraits, too, as of Charles V., Amerigo Vespucci and himself.