Lot Essay
The present drawing is related to Parmigianino's series of drawings of the Adoration of the Shepherds executed during the artist's Roman period (1524-1527), which culminated in his etching of the subject, A.E. Popham, Catalogue of the Drawings of Parmigianino, New Haven and London, 1971, I, fig. 30. It is also closely related to a print by Francesco Rosaspina (fig. 1), published by A.E. Popham (op. cit., I, p. 246, O.R.5, II, pl. 153) as an old reproduction of a lost drawing. Indeed, it is tempting to conjecture whether this and Rosaspina's model are not one and the same drawing. Were this to be the case, however, it would have to be acknowledged that the engraver took notable liberties with the original, not least in adding considerably to the definition of the facial features of the figures. Perhaps even more significantly, the prominent ox in the foreground of the print is plunged into deep shadow, whereas its counterpart in the drawing is not. In all probability, therefore, the lost drawing etched by Rosaspina was a development of the present sheet.