Frick Collection Announces Significant Extension on the Loan of a Painting by Parmigianino; Record Attendance in February as Parmigianino Exhibition Attracts High Visitation and Praise

Frick Collection visitors now have an extended opportunity to view a painting by the Renaissance artist Parmigianino (1503–1540), Portrait of a Man with a Book.Currently on loan to the Frick, the work comes from a British collection, the York Art Gallery, and is featured in the highly praised current special exhibition A Beautiful and Gracious Manner: The Art of Parmigianino. Although the show, now at its last venue, closes to the public on April 18, the painting from York will remain on view at the Frick through Sunday, November 21, 2004.  It represents an outstanding complement to the holdings of the museum, which–despite a great strength in sixteenth-century paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts–does not otherwise include any works by this artist.  Once controversial, the attribution of Portrait of a Man with a Book to Parmigianino (previously given to Correggio) has recently been substantiated by the discovery of its listing as such in documents pertaining to the famous Farnese Collection in Rome.  During the run of A Beautiful and Gracious Manner: The Art of Parmigianino, the portrait has been a highlighted work, greeting visitors at the entrance to the presentation.  Following the close of the exhibition, the canvas will move into the Anteroom, a permanent collection gallery on the principal floor of the mansion, where it will be displayed along with such cabinet-scale pictures as Memling’s Portrait of a Man and El Greco’s Purification of the Temple.