Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli

Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, Allegorical Portrait of Parma Embracing Alessandro Farnese, Galleria Nazionale di Parma.

Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli (c. 1500–1569) was an Italian painter active in the Mannerist style.

Biography Bedoli was born in Parma, Italy, in a family coming from Viadana in Lombardy. He was a near contemporary of Parmigianino, and after the early death of the latter master, he completed some frescoes initially commissioned from Parmigianino. For example, he completed works in the apse of Santa Maria della Steccata. He is known to have worked in the studio of Parmigianino's uncles in Parma. He married the daughter of Pier Ilaro Mazzola, a cousin of Parmigianino; hence, he added to his name the Mazzola appellation.

He painted, along with his father-in-law, the Immaculate Conception for the Oratorio della Concezione (now in Parma Gallery). Art historian Sydney J. Freedberg describes him in his masterpiece of the Annunciation as resembling Parmigianino in the same way Bronzino reflected the elder Pontormo, equal in skill and refinement, but lacking the original abstracting poetry of the image. Bedoli's works are equal in polish, but stony in feeling. He produced murals, portraits, designed tombs, and altarpieces—the diverse uses probably trained him best as a decorative artist. His son, Alessandro Mazzola (1533–1608), was an undistinguished painter.

Selected works

Most of Bedoli's works are not signed. Many works are attributed to him based on style, but often these attributions are disputed. Among the works attributed to Bedoli are the following:

Image Name Medium Location 80px Adoration of the Kings oil on canvas Italy – Parma – Galleria nazionale 80px Adoration of the Shepherds with Saint Benedict oil on panel France – Paris – Louvre 80px oil Italy – Parma – Galleria nazionale external image Allegory of the Immaculate Conception drawing France – Paris – Louvre Annunciation oil on canvas Italy – Naples – Museo di Capodimonte external image Bacchus drawing England – Cambridge – Fitzwilliam Museum 80px Christ as Judge on the Last Day fresco Italy – Parma – Cathedral external image Conversion of Saint Paul oil on canvas Italy – Mantua – Palazzo Ducale external image Female Caryatid drawing England – Cambridge – Fitzwilliam Museum external image Head of a Woman drawing England – Cambridge – Fitzwilliam Museum 80px Holy Family oil on panel Hungary – Budapest – Museum of Fine Arts Holy Family oil on canvas Denmark – Copenhagen – Statens Museum for Kunst external image Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and an Angel drawing U.S.A. – Massachusetts – Cambridge – Fogg Museum Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Angels oil on panel Italy – Naples – Museo di Capodimonte Holy Family with Saints oil on panel Italy – Naples – Museo di Capodimonte Immaculate Conception Italy – Parma – Cathedral external image Infant Jesus and Saint John the Baptist oil on panel England – Royal Collection Infant Jesus and Saint John the Baptist oil unknown (sold 2010 by Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Martyrdom of Saint John the Evangelist Italy – Mantua – Palazzo Ducale external image Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate drawing U.S.A. – Illinois – Art Institute of Chicago 80px Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria oil on canvas Italy – Parma – Galleria nazionale Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Italy – Parma – Church of San Giovanni Evangelista Pentecost Italy – Parma – Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata external image Portrait of a Boy of the Bracciforte Family oil U.S.A. – Rochester – Memorial Art Gallery 80px Portrait of a Musician oil on panel U.S.A. – Missouri – Saint Louis Art Museum Portrait of a Tailor oil on canvas Italy – Naples – Museo di Capodimonte external image Portrait of a Young Man oil Austria – Vienna – Kunsthistorisches Museum external image Princes Praying oil England – Yorkshire – Castle Howard external image Putto Seated on a Frame drawing U.S.A. – New York – Metropolitan Museum of Art Saint Clare oil on canvas Italy – Naples – Museo di Capodimonte Saint Mary Magdalene oil on panel Italy – Florence – Palazzo Pitti Saint Thecla drawing Italy – Milan – Pinacoteca Ambrosiana Seated Man in a Niche with Violoncello drawing Italy – Naples – Museo di Capodimonte external image Standing Female Figure and Ornamental Framework drawing U.S.A. – New York – Metropolitan Museum of Art Study for the Virgin in the Steccata Pentecost drawing Italy – Milan – Pinacoteca Ambrosiana Virgin and Child drawing England – Cambridge – Fitzwilliam Museum external image Virgin and Child drawing England – Cambridge – Fitzwilliam Museum 80px Virgin and Child in Landscape oil on panel U.S.A. – Massachusetts – Cambridge – Fogg Museum Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist oil on canvas Denmark – Copenhagen – Statens Museum for Kunst external image Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Saint James drawing France – Paris – Louvre Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist, Saint Sebastian and Saint Francis oil on panel Germany – Dresden – Gemäldegalerie external image Visitation oil Italy – Reggio Emilia – Church of Santa Maria della Visitazione