The subject of this small yet elaborate drawing is the suicide of Dido, the queen of Carthage (a city in modern day Tunisia), as envisioned in the Aeneid, a Latin epic poem written in the first century BCE. Parmigianino depicts Dido with her lover Aeneas’s sword plunged into her breast while his breastplate looms on the funeral pyre above. Even as she struggles to lift herself up with the last spark of life, Dido retains the elegance and grace that Parmigianino instils in his figures.

Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel (1585-1646) [as per inscription on the print after it by Hendrik van der Borcht II, c. 1640-50]; Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, Amsterdam (1726-1798), L.2034 (verso, lower left); probably his sale, Amsterdam (dir. van der Schley et Roos), 3 March 1800, part of no. 69 in Album LL [as identified by Seilern, but the description only says a drawing in red heightened with white by Parmigianino]; if correctly identified, buyer's annotated name in catalogue appears to read 'Schley' - as in bought by the auction house; Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (1769-1830), L.2445 (lower left); John Heywood Hawkins, London and Sussex (1802/3-1877); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 29 April 1850, lot 837; purchased there by Colnaghi (London); William Coningham, Brighton (1815-1884), L. 476 (lower right); Adolphe Stoll, Paris (late 19th -20th century), L.2786c (mount, now removed); François de Gouy d'Arsy (1883-1941); then to his partner, with whom he shared a property in France, Russell Greeley (1878-1956); his estate sale, Sotheby's (London), 26 June 1969, lot 4; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978) (£5,600); Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Drawings Gallery Display - The Art of Experiment: Parmigianino at The Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/05/2022-06/05/2022

A Passion for Drawings, Collectors at the Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 28/02/2002-09/06/2002

Parmigianino - Paintings, Drawings, Prints, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/05/1987-12/07/1987

The Art of Experiment: Parmigianino at The Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 2022
cat. no. 17
and on pp. 12, 104n1
ill. on p. 101

Gnann, Achim, Parmigianino: Die Zeichnungen, Petersberg 2007
vol. I, p. 196 and vol. II, no. 431
ill.

Parmigianino - Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Courtauld, London, 1987
cat. no. 8 ...More

Watermark: Watermark: centre: unable to see clearly due to support.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower left corner, blindstamped: Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2445); lower right corner, blindstamped: William Coningham (L.476). Verso (backing sheet): lower left, blindstamped: Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (L.2034). Mount (removed and now in curatorial file), Recto: lower right, blindstamped: Adolphe Stoll (L.2786c).

Maker's mark: Former mount (removed in 1987 and now in the object file), Recto: lower right, blindstamped: Adolphe Stoll (L.2786c).

Inscription: Verso (backing sheet): centre, graphite: 27/2 [“/2” crossed over and “3” written above] 24 = [“3” written above “=” now erased] ann Sm”; lower left, graphite: “5 5 d / 6 6 d”; lower right, graphite: “Mr. Ann Sm / Vente au M[….]” (no obvious match to any of the known names in the provenance). Former mount (removed in 1987 and now in the object file), Verso: upper centre, blue ballpoint, title underlined: “The Death of Dido / Parmigianino”.