Camilla Gonzaga, daughter of Giovanni Gonzaga and cousin of Federigo II of Mantua, married Pier Maria de Rossi in 1523, with whom she had nine children. The children depicted in the present work are presumably the three eldest:Troilo, the eldest, who succeeded his father, standing next to the youngest of the three, Sigismondo, with Ippolito, the second eldest, on the other side. This is thought to be the first Italian portrait of a mother surrounded by her children as a representation of Charity comparable to a slightly earlier composition by Holbein. The association, however, is not particularly clear as Camilla does not even slightly reveal her breasts and none of the figures are looking at each other. This panel and the accompanying portrait of Pier Francesco III were together as a pair in the collection of the Marquis of Serra, but the significant difference of quality between the two has led to the suggestion that they were not originally devised as a pair.No early sources mention the portrait of the Countess and there is no known copy of it, whereas three copies are known of her husband’s portrait. In general, the present work is considered to be by Parmigianino and his workshop, although as Fadda noted, there are no references to its existence. Apart from Camilla’s face and those of the two children on her right, executed with extremely subtle glazes close to those found in the portrait of the Count, it cannot be said that this is a work entirely by Parmigianino’s hand.The face of the other brother was executed by a different artist, as can be seen in the different handling of the flesh tones and the dense, heavy brushstroke.This is also evident in the dull brushstrokes that create the touches of white on the Countess’ dress and the gold of her embroidery and jewellery, which are quite different to the very light brushstrokes of the slashed hose worn by the Count. Troilo was born around 1525, Ippolito in 1530 and Sigismondo in 1532.7 It is likely that the figure of Ippolito was added some years after those of Troilo and Sigismondo, given that there was a difference of five years between the two elder brothers, which is not evident in the painting, regardless of the different treatment of their faces.The similarity of the handling of Camilla’s face to the Antea in Capodimonte has led to a dating for the present work of around 1538-1540,8 but Troilo was born in 1525 and here he is depicted aged around ten or twelve, so the dating needs to be put back to around 1535- 1537. There is a drawing by Parmigianino of a young man that has not previously been related to the present work9 but which supports this dating as it shows Troilo as a teenager, full-face, and with the same pronounced oval jaw, hair style, long ear lobes, unusually curving, small lips and long lines at the side of the mouth. In the drawing Troilo would be around fourteen or fifteen, suggesting a date of around 1539-1540, and confirming that the present painting dates from when he was slightly younger.The drawing in Chatsworth attributed to Parmigianino of a younger boy in profile identifiable as Troilo and which was definitely used in the preparation of the Prado painting, supports this hypothesis. The Countess, who is undoubtedly the same person as the sitter in the Portrait of a Lady attributed to Giulio Campi in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has a sable hanging from her shoulder.This animal was associated with fertility, and furs with the head replaced by a gold or silver one were given as marriage gifts. The sable was also thought to be able to foretell misfortune, as noted by Valeriano in his Hyerogliphica and in the Phisiologus, and once dead could ward off evil. Camilla fends off possible misfortune by ensuring that the animal -tied with a costly chain that runs round her body and to which the two younger children cling in the manner of a talisman against the perils of childhood- does not open its mouth.

El retrato del Renacimiento. El retrato del Renacimiento, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p.232/233