Decoration of the under-arch above the main altar

In the 1530s Parmigianino frescoed the under-arch above the altar in Santa Maria della Steccata. He graced his painted coffer articulation with sculptural rosettes. A colourful variety of fruit garlands, animals, and grotesques, in red and gold, produces a magnificent effect. At the spring line of the arch, Parmigianino painted two sets of three beautiful, graceful women in various side views, suggesting the Three Graces. Their elegance is analogous to the perfected sweeping forms of the precious vessels they bear on their heads. Grisaille figures of Adam and Eve and Moses and Aaron frame the group of women.