Raphael exemplifies High Renaissance painting with his grand renderings of the Madonna in landscape settings the figurative scenes with which he decorated the Vatican. His celebrated depiction of Plato, Aristotle, and other sages in his School of Athens (1510-12) fresco for the Vatican reflects the inspiration he drew from Classical ideals of beauty and composition. The soft round faces of his subjects reveal human sentiment, while exuding sublime perfection and serenity, as illustrated by Madonna on the Meadow (1505). Over time he began to arrange figures in a signature pyramid configuration, and gradually increased their movement and psychological interplay. Though he owed much to his venerable teachers Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, in particular the latter’s use of chiaroscuro and sfumato, Raphael is considered the most versatile and prolific of the triumvirate.
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Madonna with the Long Neck is typical of Parmigianino's later work, which was defined by unusual spatial compositions and elongated figures. The painting is also known as Madonna and Child with Angels and St Jerome but earned the name Madonna with the Long Neck because of the curious length of the Madonna's swan-like neck.

This painting is one of Parmigianino's more controversial works and has been analyzed by many critics. It shows the Madonna, seated on a high pedestal and clothed in beautiful robes, holding the baby Jesus on her lap. To the left of the picture are four angels crowded around the Madonna, looking admiringly on Christ.

On the right are a row of marble columns and the disproportionally small figure of St. Jerome. It was necessary for the painting to include the image of St Jerome because of the saint's connections with the worship of the Virgin Mary.

The subject of this piece is derived from medieval hymns which compared the Virgin's neck to a great ivory tower or column. Therefore the exaggerated length of the Virgin's limbs and those of her son and the presence of columns in the background of the painting, are symbolic of the painting's religious value.

The commission:
Originally, this painting was commissioned by the noblewoman Elena Baiardi for her family chapel in the church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Parma. This was the principle work of Parmigianino's last period and he worked on it for six years but it was never completed because of the artist's death in 1540.
Madonna with the Long Neck Analysis Top
Cropped - Madonna with the Long Neck Madonna with the Long Neck
Parmigianino
Cropped - Madonna with the Long Neck Madonna with the Long Neck
Parmigianino
Cropped - Madonna with the Long Neck Madonna with the Long Neck
Parmigianino
Composition:
Unlike the calm and peaceful Madonnas that Raphael painted, Parmigianino's painting gives more of a sense of abandon and movement. The Madonna's posture is relaxed, open and perhaps just a little carefree.

Parmigianino studied and admired the grace and poise in Raphael's art, but he has remodeled the figures from the old master's work and turned them into almost unearthly creatures: their limbs, ivory marble skin, blithe attitude, all portray a different idea of ideal beauty.

The Madonna and Angels:
The Madonna does not have normal human proportions; her neck, shoulders and fingers have all been elongated to make her appear more elegant and graceful. Her hair is also elaborately curled and decorated with pearls to frame her beautiful face and complexion. The robes she is wearing are luxurious and flowing.

Parmigianino has stretched and lengthened bodily parts in the painting in a strange and impulsive way. The Angel's leg in the foreground is glossy and suggestive,