In 1896 an oil painting and an engraving depicting a mother
testing the gums of her baby were shipped by Harriet Cooper from London to her
favourite niece in Sydney, but they arrived after the niece died. Since then
the artworks were inherited through the Australian family along a path of
ownership known by family members.
Lavinia Zappi, a painting conservator from Bologna on an
internship at the National Gallery of Victoria is asked to review documents
pertaining to the art before the gallery curator decides to exhibit the
painting thought to be by Renaissance artist, Parmigianino (Francesco
Mazzola). Zappi is drawn to the painting because of the remarkable likeness of
the woman’s painted profile and a miniature portrait of her grandmother. Is she
related to the woman in the painting who the owners think was the mistress of
the artist? Is the painting an original work of art from 1527 lost from the records of
art historians and Italian museums? What is the name of the child and is Parmigianino the father?
