Who is Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione?

Who is Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione?

This artist seems to have been forgotten.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, The Nativity with Angels, c. 1655. Monotype, 24.7 x 37.3 cm. Royal Collection Trust, London.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, "Sacred and Profane Love," c. 1635. Coloured oil paints on paper, 21.6 x 29.5 cm. Royal Collection Trust, London.

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, Circe with the Companions of Odysseus Transformed into Animals, c. 1650. Etching, 21.8 x 31.1 cm. Royal Collection Trust, London.

 Awe-inspiring.
An Italian 16th century writer and artist, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione was a Baroque master of the Genoese school, painter of portraits, historical pieces, mythological episodes, biblical scenes and landscapes. Especially his drawings and sketches are awe-inspiring.

His drawbacks
He was quite a textbook genius, possessing exceptional creative power and a strong willed character enabling him to break free from conventions and the restraints of society. But for him, much like for the majority of the most revered artists throughout history, brilliance comes at a cost. Autonomy, openness, and persistence may have benefits for innovation but they can also have drawbacks, such as selfishness, self-centeredness, intolerance, and so on.


His agitated lifestyle
In that tradition the Genoese artist known as Il Grechetto lived an agitated life. In addition to the twelve lawsuits he faced throughout the years, there are records of him shooting at an artist who had mocked him, of numerous brawls, and finally the anecdote of him trying to throw his own sister off a roof. He was following in the footsteps of Caravaggio, his life being a tale of hot-headedness, fights, and a lack of self-control. 

 His Innovative Techniques.
There is a whole different side to El Grechetto that must not be neglected. What he lacked in originality of style, he made up for in innovative techniques. He is the mastermind behind the invention of the monotype. Furthermore, he came up with a new approach to dry brush oil sketches; both hallmarks achieved through experimentation. These two technical novelties have a common thread to them: their Castiglionesque imprint. It lies in the abruptness, the speed with which they have to be carried out; within both approaches there is room for neither hesitation nor correction. With the monotype, a crossover between printing and drawing, one must move quickly, making the print before the paint dries. 

His Approaches
When painting in this unique way with oil, Castiglione used strong rapid strokes of diluted colour to outline then shorter strokes with dryer colour for the details. The oil soaked through the paper leaving a very limited timeframe for the creation of a masterpiece. As reckless, impulsive, and stubborn as he was in his personal life, he was the same in his artistic creation. These techniques reflect the artist’s nature perfectly which could be considered quite ‘modern’. His tendency to mix artistic media, his habit of creating from his head straight to the paper, without the detour of studies and further practice, not to mention his non-conformist lifestyle – it is safe to say that Castiglione was ahead of his time.(wsimag.com)