Adoration of the Shepherds

The monumental altarpiece is one of the rare known examples of Ludovico David’s production. The archetype from which the painting descends is probably the Holy Night by Correggio, a painting which David was able to study directly during his stay in Parma in 1685. In this canvas, however, influences are also recognized by Francesco Cairo, who together with Ercole Procaccini the Younger and, subsequently, Carlo Cignani, was one of his masters. However, these influences seems to affect only in a minimal part of the classicist culture, evident only perhaps in the figure in the foreground on the right, strongly plastic and with a meticulously studied pose. For the rest, a Baroque sensitivity emerges.