Oil on paper laid onto canvas, a fragment, 34.5cm by 26.75cm.
This painting is a copy of the head of an angel from a lost Bolognese altarpiece of the Virgin and Child with Saints Margaret and Jerome, by Parmigianino.
Parmigianino was active as a painter and printmaker in Florence, Rome, Bologna and his native Parma.
He was highly skilled as a portraitist and painted some of the earliest known half and full length portraits in Italy; previously the preserve of royalty.