Man with book by Parmigianino

Man with Book from 1530 by Parmigianino is a portrait that combines the intellectual associations of the book with the painter's refined, aristocratic portrait style. Parmigianino's portraits were admired for their elegant, psychologically engaging characterizations. The Man with Book at York Art Gallery shows Parmigianino bringing his extraordinary sensitivity to surface and light to the male portrait format, the book lending intellectual gravity to what might otherwise be a purely aristocratic image.

The portrait balances intellectual characterization through the book attribute with Parmigianino's sophisticated technique of elongated forms and refined surface treatment.