Attributed to Giovanni Battista Castello, "il... Lot n° 30

Attributed to Giovanni Battista Castello, "il Bergamesco" (Gandino, Bergamo, circa 1509 - Madrid, 1569) "Holy Family with a Martyr Saint". Miniature in tempera and gold on parchment. With an embossed, 18th century silver frame with floral motifs. 13,5 x 11 cm. Frame measurements: 22,5 x 17,5 cm. Depiction of the Holy Family with a martyr saint holding a palm leaf, painted in a cramped space with a small window which looks out on an urban landscape. The Virgin Mary is wearing an elegant lapis lazuli blue tunic. The child is naked and looks at his father devotedly, while the saint appears lost in thought, contemplating the Christ Child. As Elena de Laurentiis Accornero, notes in the chapter of the book "España y Génova. Obras, artistas y coleccionistas" (Spain and Genoa. Works of art, artists and collectors): "En la Vita de Gio. Battista Castello was an extremely hardworking Genovese miniature painter. He was included among the first commemorative history of the artists who worked in Genovese territories in the 16th and 17th centuries, Le Vitte de’ Pittori, Scultori et Architetti genovesi e de'Forastieri che in Genova operarono, by Raffaele Soprani. Published posthumously in 1674, the author explains that Castello became a miniaturist after having been a gold and silversmith in his youth. Under the tutelage of Luca Cambiaso, who guided him in the study of drawing, he began to make miniature devotional images which were frequently displayed on portable altars or in reliquaries. Very quickly he reached such "excellence" and "perfection" in this art that "he became famous in the world". Battista Castello’s reputation, considered by Soprani to be one of the best miniature-painters of the period after Giulio Clovio, was not limited to Italy, but was known all over Europe. His miniatures appear in famous palaces of the period such as the Palazzo Borghese in Rome, that of Giovanni Andrea Doria in Genoa and the Ducal Palace in Pesaro". In Spain, Philip II called him to the court to paint miniatures on the liturgical books for the Royal Monastery El Escorial. Bibliographic reference: - Boccardo, P., Colomer, J. L. y Di Fabio, C. (2003). "España y Génova. Obras, artistas y coleccionistas" Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica.