The Madonna of the Long Neck

The Madonna of the Long Neck

The way Parmigianino works the human body in this painting has always amazed me. He manages to convey at the same time the frailty of the mother and son in a Pietà and the joy and awe of the Incarnation. She's towering, like a queen, but her wide hips and the way the child looks just makes me think of Mary holding her son's dead body. The crowd on the left - are they the angels paying respect to the newborn son of God, or perhaps the onlookers at the cross? Conventions are played with and put to work in a way that keeps me coming back.