adorazione dei pastori

Although previously ascribed to Claudio Ridolfi, the drawing should in fact be attributed to the Cremonese painter Giovanni Battista Trotti, known as il Malosso. The sheet is a preparatory study for the altarpiece depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds, signed and dated by the artist, which was once in the Church of the Cappuccine in Lodi and is now in the Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco in Milano. The drawing displays the distinctive features of Malosso’s style, characterised by a marked theatrical flair and a dense, crowded composition.