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Circle of GIOVANNI BATTISTA TROTTI called IL MALOSSO, (Cremona 1555 - Parma 1619) CHRIST CRUCIFIED ATTENDED BY A KNEELING BISHOP
Pen and brown ink, washed in brown and grey; the figures squared in black chalk. 395 x 267 mm. Watermark 'Hand'. Inscribed in pen by an old hand 'C. Malosso N° 42. 1592 Parma'. PROVENANCE: Dubini-Hoepli; Finarte, Milan, 1976, Catalogue 234, lot 41, as Malosso.

Giovanni Battista Trotti was the favourite pupil of Bernardino Campi in Cremona; he was also influenced by the work of Correggio and by Bernardino Gatti, Il Sojaro, and absorbed a special interest in landscape from the Flemish painters he met in Parma. He and his busy workshop executed an impressive series of commissions in Cremona and neighbouring regions. To cope with the plentyful quantity of commissions received, many of his designs were executed by his pupils, but he signed the finished paintings by his own hand. In the early 17th century il Malosso, as he was nicknamed, was employed as a painter, architect and interior designer by members of the Farnese family in Parma, for example on the decoration of the Palazzo del Giardino (now Palazzo Ducale), and was awarded the title of 'Cavaliere'. He often returned to Cremona to work and supervise his workshop.