Turkish Slave
Encyclopedia
Turkish Slave is a painting by the Italian Mannerist
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...

 artist Parmigianino
Parmigianino
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola , also known as Francesco Mazzola or more commonly as Parmigianino or sometimes "Parmigiano", was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bologna, and his native city of Parma...

, executed around 1533. It is housed in the Galleria nazionale di Parma
Galleria nazionale di Parma
The Galleria nazionale di Parma is an art gallery in Parma, northern Italy.Painters exhibited include Beato Angelico, Canaletto, Correggio, Sebastiano del Piombo, Guercino, Leonardo da Vinci, Parmigianino, Tintoretto and others.-History:...

, northern Italy.

The title of "Turkish Slave" derives from the misinterpretation of the sitter's headwear as a turban
Turban
In English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...

. It is in fact a typical headdress of noblewomen of the time, with examples appearing in numerous contemporary portraits..

History

The work was in the Uffizi Gallery until 1928, when it was exchanged for two 13th century panels and a portrait thought to be of Philip, Duke of Parma
Philip, Duke of Parma
Philip of Spain was Duke of Parma from 1748 to 1765. He founded the House of Bourbon-Parma , a cadet line of the Spanish branch of the dynasty...

 by Giuseppe Baldrighi  and later recognized as a self-portrait. It had arrived in Florence through Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici, who owned it as early as 1675 and left it to the Medici
Medici
The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...

 Cabinet after his death. It is mentioned in the Uffizi inventories of 1704 and 1890, being listed in the latter as "Portrait of a Young Woman with a turban on her head, with the left she holds a plume, by Parmigianino's hand".

The work was restored in 1968, at which time the dark background was removed and a uniform, earth-like color was discovered. The intervention, however, has been criticized, since several art historian consider the black background as a later intervention by Parmigianino himself.

Description

The subject is a young woman with brown hair and eyes, portrayed as a half-figure. She wears a white silk dress or bodice striped with gold. Her over-dress of indigo
Indigo
Indigo is a color named after the purple dye derived from the plant Indigofera tinctoria and related species. The color is placed on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet...

  blue satin has large puffed sleeves and is worn low around the shoulders, revealing the bodice. She also wears a soft embroidered apron on her belly of a type also represented in the painting Antea
Antea (Parmigianino)
Antea is a painting by the Italian Mannerist artist Parmigianino, executed around 1524-1527.-History:...

by the same artist. On the head she wears a doughnut-shaped headdress sewn with gilt thread and decorated by a medallion portraying Pegasus, perhaps a metaphor of love or a heraldic reference to the Cavalli family. This style of headwear was fashionable for women of the time, invented for Isabella d'Este
Isabella d'Este
Isabella d'Este was Marchesa of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whose innovative style of dressing was copied by women throughout Italy and at the French court...

 and featured in numerous female portraits from the Lombard and Padan  area in the early 16th century.

On the hand, whose slender fingers are typical of Parmigianino art, she wears a small ring, perhaps a reference to a recent marriage. She holds a plume used to fan herself, depicted with highly detailed brushstrokes.

The proposed identifications of the woman include Giulia Gonzaga
Giulia Gonzaga
Giulia Gonzaga was an Italian noblewoman of the Renaissance.-Biography:Giulia was born in Gazzuolo in 1512. In 1526 she was married to count Vespasiano Colonna , count of Fondi and duke of Traetto...

 at the time of her marriage to Vespasiano Gonzaga.
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