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Parmigianino (1503–1540), “Antea,” circa 1531–34, oil on canvas, approximately 53½ by 34 inches. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.

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NEW YORK CITY — Parmigianino’s hauntingly beautiful portrait of a young woman known as “Antea” (circa 1531–34) will go on view in the United States for the first time in more than 20 years January 29–April 27. Lent to The Frick Collection by the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, this painting is one of the most important portraits of the Italian Renaissance. Like Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Parmigianino’s “Antea” is a consummate example of a portrait with compelling psychological presence. The sitter’s penetrating gaze and naturalistic presentation suggest that viewers encountering a real person, yet the identity of this young woman is unknown.

Many questions about the painting remain unanswered. Of these, the most persistent concerns the sitter’s identity. One of the earliest mentions of the painting, dating from the late Seventeenth Century, claims she is Antea, a famous Roman courtesan, and Parmigianino’s mistress; other theories suggest she is the daughter or servant of the artist, a noble bride, or a member of an aristocratic family. Still others have suggested that the painting is an example of an “ideal beauty,” a popular genre of Renaissance female portraiture in which the beauty and virtue of the sitter were of paramount importance, rather than her identity.

This single-painting presentation will offer an opportunity to explore the many proposals put forward regarding this issue, based on a close analysis of her costume and jewelry and a study of the painting’s provenance, as well as the chance to consider the work within its original social and cultural context. It will be accompanied by three public lectures and a fully illustrated catalog written by Christina Neilson, the Andrew W. Mellon fellow.

Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, known as Parmigianino, was born in Parma in 1503 into a family of painters. In 1524 he traveled to Rome, where he was instantly regarded as “Raphael revived.” His success in the Eternal City was cut short by the Sack of Rome in 1527.

He fled and later returned home to Parma in 1530, most likely to paint frescoes in the Santa Maria della Steccata’s apse, a prestigious assignment. Though the project consumed Parmigianino for the next nine years, he never completed it. He died in 1540 at the age of 37. Throughout his brief, peripatetic career, Parmigianino painted dozens of portraits; most were of illustrious men, and a small number, including the “Antea,” were of beautiful women.

The Frick is at 1 East 70th Street, near Fifth Avenue. For more information, 212-288-0700 or www.frick.org.