Design for an Altarpiece, with the Virgin and Child Appearing to Four Saints
Early XVII century. Wash, Pencil, Grey-brown ink, Red chalk, Pencil ground on yellow paper.Not on display
There seems little stylistic evidence to support the traditional attribution to Passignano. The drawing may be Cremonese, since there is some resemblance to the work of Giovanni Battista Trotti, called "Malosso" (1556-1619) and of his pupil and associate Ermenegildo Lodi (fl. 1594-1630). St. Andrew is one of the four saints represented. The altarpiece was probably commissioned to decorate the church belonging to an order of nuns, as is suggested by the female saint on the right, whose cloak protects three sisters.
Turner, Nicholas, From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Chicago, Art Services International, 2008, p.346
