Parmigianino was the eighth child of Filippo Mazzola and one Donatella Abbati. His father died of the plague two years after Parmigianino's birth, and the children were raised by their uncles, Michele and Pier Ilario, who according to Vasari were modestly talented artists.^[5] In 1515, his uncle received a commission from Nicolò Zangrandi for the decoration of a chapel in San Giovanni Evangelista; a work later completed by a young Parmigianino. By the age of eighteen, he had already completed the Bardi Altarpiece. In 1521, Parmigianino was sent to Viadana (along with painter Girolamo Bedoli who was to marry his cousin) to escape the wars between the French, Imperial, and papal armies. In Viadana, he painted two panels in tempera, depicting Saint Francis for the church of the Frati de' Zoccoli, and the Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine for San Pietro. He also worked in San Giovanni and met Correggio, who was at work on the fresco decorations of the cupola.

In 1524, he traveled to Rome with five small paintings, including the Circumcision of Jesus and his Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror, seeking patronage of the Medici pope, Clement VII. Vasari records that in Rome, Parmigianino was "celebrated as a Raphael reborn". In January 1526, Parmigianino and his uncle, Pier Ilario, agreed with Maria Bufalina from Città di Castello, to decorate the church of San Salvatore in Lauro with an altarpiece of the Vision of Saint Jerome (1526–27, National Gallery, London). Within a year, the Sack of Rome caused Parmigianino, and many other artists, to flee.

He resided in Bologna for nearly three years. At around 1528, he painted the Madonna and Child with Saints (Pinacoteca, Bologna), then later in 1528, he painted Madonna con la Rosa (Dresden) and Madonna with Saint Zachariah (Uffizi). By 1530 Parmigianino had returned to Parma.

In 1531, Parmigianino received a commission for two altarpieces, depicting Saint Joseph and Saint John the Baptist, from the unfinished church of Santa Maria della Steccata. The brotherhood overseeing the church advanced him salary and promised him the supplies and materials; however, by 1535, the project was unfinished. In December, he nominated Don Nicola Cassola, a Parman cleric at the Roman Curia, to act as his legal representative. Parmigianino authorized him to collect the 50 gold scudi from Bonifazio Gozzadini for the Madonna with St. John the Baptist and St. Zacharias.

In 1534, it was decided that the Madonna dal collo lungo (the Madonna with the Long Neck) would hang in the chapel of the family of Elena Baiardi.

Parmigianino had probably expected to succeed Correggio in the favour of the church. However, in April 1538, the administrative offices commissioned initially Giorgio Gandini del Grano, then Girolamo Bedoli, to decorate the apse and choir of the Parma Cathedral.

It is believed that at this time, he became a devotee of alchemy. Vasari hypothesizes that this was due to his fascination with magic. Scholars now agree that Parmigianino's scientific interests may have been due to his obsession with trying to find a new medium for his etchings.^{[citation needed]} As a result of his alchemical researches, he completed little work in the church. He was imprisoned for two months for breach of contract after the Confraternita decided unanimously to ban him from continuing in their church. He was replaced between 1539 and 1540 by Giulio Romano, who also promptly withdrew from the contract.

Parmigianino died of a fever in Casalmaggiore on 24 August 1540 at the age of 37 years. He is buried in the church of the Servite Friars "naked with a cross made of cypress wood on his chest".

Among those closely influenced by Parmigianino were his cousin Girolamo Mazzuoli and Girolamo's son Alessandro Mazzuoli; Pomponeo Amidano; Giacomo Bertoia; and Francesco Borgani.^[6]

Parmigianino was a pioneer of Italian etcher, a technique that was pioneered in Italy by Marcantonio Raimondi, but which appealed to draughtsmen. Though the techniques of printing the copper plates required special skills, the ease with which acid, as a substitute for ink, could reproduce the spontaneity of an artist's hand attracted Parmigianino, a "master of elegant figure drawing".^[7] Parmigianino also designed chiaroscuro woodcuts, which were cut by other artists. While his print output was small he had a considerable influence on Italian printmaking. Some of his prints were executed in collaboration with Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio.

• Baptism of Christ (c. 1519) – Oil on wood, 197 x 137 cm – Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
• Bardi Altarpiece (1521) – Tempera on panel, 203 x 130 cm; Church of Santa Maria, Bardi
• Saint Barbara (1522) – Oil on Wood, 48 x 39 cm – Prado Museum, Madrid.
• Circumcision of Jesus (c. 1523) – Oil on wood, 42 x 31.4 cm; Detroit Institute of Arts

• Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror (c. 1524) – Oil on wood, diameter 24.4 cm; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
• Portrait of a Collector (c. 1524) – Oil on panel, 86 x 94 cm, National Gallery, London
• Portrait of Galeazzo Sanvitale (1524) – Oil on panel, 109 x 81 cm, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples
• Portrait of Lorenzo Cybo (1524) – Oil on panel, 126 x 104 cm, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen
• Myth of Diana and Acteon (c. 1524) – fresco, Rocca Sanvitale, Fontanellato, Province of Parma
• The Holy Family with Angels (c. 1524) – Oil on panel, 110 x 89 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
• Antea (c. 1524–7) – Oil on canvas, 135 x 88 cm, Museo di Capodimonte, Naples
• Madonna and Child (1525) – Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome
• Vision of Saint Jerome (1526–1527) – Oil on panel, 343 x 149 cm, National Gallery, London
• Conversion of Saint Paul (c. 1527) – Oil on canvas, 177.5 x 128.5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
• Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (c.1528) – National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples
• The Mystical Marriage of St Catherine (1529) – Oil on panel, 74.2 x 57.2 cm, National Gallery, London
• Turkish Slave (Portrait of a Lady; c. 1533) – Oil on panel, 67 x 53 cm, Galleria Nazionale di Parma
• Cupid Making His Arch (c. 1533–1535) – Oil on panel, 135 x 65.3 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
• Madonna with the Long Neck (1534–40) – Oil on wood, 216 x 132 cm, Uffizi, Florence
• Portrait of Pier Maria Rossi di San Secondo (c. 1535–1539) – Oil on panel, 133 x 98 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid
• Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene (c. 1535-1540) - Oil on panel, 75.9 × 59.7cm, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
• Portrait of Camilla Gonzaga and Her Three Sons (c. 1539–1540) – Oil on panel, 128 x 97 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid

• Self-portrait in a Convex Mirror (book)

• Hartt, Frederick, History of Italian Renaissance Art, (2nd edn.)1987, Thames & Hudson (US Harry N Abrams), ISBN 0500235104
• Parmigianino, Cecil Gould. ISBN 1-55859-892-8
• Parmigianino: The Paintings, Mary Vaccaro. ISBN 88-422-1131-1
• Parmigianino: The Drawings, Sylvie Beguin et al. ISBN 88-422-1020-X
• The Story of Art, E.H. Gombrich, London : Phaidon Press, Ltd., 1995 ISBN 0-7148-3247-2
• Parmigianino and European Mannerism Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna in English

  Media related to Parmigianino at Wikimedia Commons

• Parmigianino's biography, style and artworks
• Parmigianino Biography at the National Gallery
• Parmigianino Gallery at MuseumSyndicate
• Prints & People: A Social History of Printed Pictures, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Parmigianino (see index)
• Rossetti, William Michael (1911). "Parmigiano" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). p. 853.