Madonna and child with Saints Stephen and John the Baptist

The Madonna and Child sit enthroned between Saints Stephen and John the Baptist in this altarpiece from around 1540 at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Parmigianino's late religious works take Mannerist elegance to its most extreme expression, with figures of extraordinary elongation and refinement that seem to belong to a different, more refined order of being than ordinary humanity. Characteristic of Parmigianino's approach, the work displays extreme elegance, elongated forms, serpentine grace, refined palette.

The figures are stretched to Parmigianino's characteristic proportions, with the Madonna particularly elongated in neck and torso. The composition creates a rhythmic interplay of vertical figures that emphasizes height and grace. The palette is cool and refined, with silvery tones giving the scene an ethereal quality. Drapery falls in long, elegant folds that accentuate the vertical emphasis.