Portrait of Lorenzo Cybo

The portrait’s creation is dated to 1524, aligning with Parmigianino’s documented sojourn in Rome; an inscribed date of 1523 is widely regarded as an error by an unknown hand, since the artist was still in Emilia at that time. The sitter, Lorenzo Cybo, served as captain of the papal guard and was twenty-three or twenty-four years old when portrayed, as indicated by the inscription.

The work first appears in records in 1749 as part of the collection of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, depicted in Giovanni Paolo Pannini’s painted inventory of Gonzaga’s gallery. After Gonzaga’s death, the entire collection was sold at auction in Amsterdam on 18 May 1763 and purchased by dealer Gerhard Morell for King Frederick V of Denmark, entering the holdings of what is now the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen.

The painting is held in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, where it carries the inventory number KMSsp708.

It entered the museum in 1763 after the dispersal of the collection of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga in Amsterdam; the Gonzaga holdings were purchased there by the Danish king Frederick V through the dealer Gerhard Morell.

The work is not documented in any public exhibition prior to its arrival in Denmark, and there is no record of later loans in the museum’s holdings.

Giorgio Vasari praised the work in his biographies, remarking that Parmigianino did not merely portray Lorenzo Cybo but rendered him as living flesh. Scholars regard the painting as a highlight of the artist's career, potentially representing his first execution in Rome prior to the significant influences of Michelangelo and Raphael. Stylistically, the piece shares close affinities with the contemporary Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale, while the figure of the page suggests an influence from Pordenone.

The inscription dating the work to 1523 is generally considered an error by later hands, as historical records place the artist in Emilia during that year; the creation is instead firmly dated to 1524, coinciding with Cybo's appointment as captain of the papal guard following the election of Clement VII.

The portrait has been noted by Giorgio Vasari as one of Parmigianino’s works from his Roman stay. It appeared in Giovanni Paolo Pannini’s depiction of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga’s gallery, underscoring its presence in a distinguished 18th‑century collection. After the Gonzaga holdings were sold in Amsterdam in 1763, the painting entered the Danish royal collection and is now housed in the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen.

Several copies survive, among them a version once owned by Countess Frenfanelli Cybo that resides at Columbia University in New York. Modern scholarship regards the work as a high point in Parmigianino’s oeuvre.

Created in 1524, this portrait depicts Lorenzo Cybo and is executed on a wooden panel. The work is attributed to the Italian painter Parmigianino, a figure associated with the late Renaissance. It is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark, located in Copenhagen, where it is displayed among other works of the period.

Executed in oil on wood, the painting demonstrates Parmigianino’s early mastery of delicate brushwork and subtle modeling of flesh tones. The composition adheres to the balanced proportions typical of the late Renaissance, while the handling of light and shadow hints at the artist’s later Mannerist tendencies, foreshadowing a more elongated aesthetic.