Castiglione’s etching, “Head in profile to right with two feathers in hat”, c.1645–50

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609–64)

“Head in profile to right with two feathers in hat”, c1645–50, from the series “Small Oriental Heads“

Etching on very fine (almost transparent) laid paper trimmed on, or within, the platemark.

Size: (sheet) 10.9 x 8.1 cm.

Inscribed at upper right: “GB [artist’s monogram] / Castilione / Genovese”

TIB 46 (21).32 (27) (Walter L Strauss & Paolo Bellini [Eds.] 1982, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 46, p. 45); Bellini 1982 24; Bartsch XXI.28.33

See also the description of this print at the British Museum:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1447513&partId=1&people=129837&page=1

Condition: slightly grey impression (suggesting a later edition—perhaps McCreery’s 1816 edition) in near pristine condition. There is the remnant of a mounting hinge (verso).

I am selling this small and precious etching by Castiglione—the artist claimed to have made the first monotype—for AU$175 in total (currently US$132.25/EUR117.79/GBP102.41at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this fine vignette portrait by an old master, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

There are so many purported “facts” about Castiglione that are so interesting to address. Indeed, the facts are so tantalising that they make finding where to start in a brief discussion about him hard to navigate. So … rather than be level-headed I will simply layout a few of these facts for those interested in the genius of Castiglione to engage with.

Purported fact Number 1: Castiglione invented the monotype process (i.e. “A single print taken from a design created in oil paint or printing ink on glass or metal.” Oxford Dictionary)

Purported fact Number 2: Castiglione “discovered” Rembrandt and “is the first artist in Italy known to have borrowed directly from the Dutch master” (Timothy J Standring & Martin Clayton, 2013, “Castiglione: Lost Genius”, Royal Collection Trust, p. 43)

Purported fact Number 3: He threw his sister off a rooftop. (Standring & Clayton, 2013)

Purported fact Number 4: Accused his brother of being a thief and an assassin and sent him to jail. (Standring & Clayton, 2013)

Purported fact Number 5: Almost killed his nephew with relentless punches. (Standring & Clayton, 2013)

Purported fact Number 6: The “most innovative and technically accomplished Italian draughtsman of his time” and “one of the most original artists of the entire seventeenth century.” (Standring & Clayton, 2013)

Purported fact Number 7: Castiglione “pioneered the development of the oil sketch” (Wikipedia).

Castiglione’s etching, “A bearded man wearing a tasselled headdress facing left”, c.1648–50

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609–64)

“A bearded man wearing a tasselled headdress facing left”, c.1648–50, from the series, “Large studies of heads in Oriental headdress”, published in McCreery’s 1816 edition of “200 Etchings.” (Note: my attribution to McCreery’s edition is based solely on the wear to the plate and how the print is trimmed.)

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed along the image borderline and lined onto a conservator’s support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 18.5 x 15 cm

Inscribed in plate at upper left: “CASTILIONE / GENOVESE”

Final state (?) as published in the 1816 McCreery’s edition

TIB 46 (21).51 (33) (Walter L Strauss & Paolo Bellini [Eds.] 1982, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 46, p. 54); TIB Comment.46.4602.051 S2; Bartsch XXI.33.51 (Adam von Bartsch “Le Peintre graveur”. Vienna, 1803); Bellini 1982, cat.no. 44.II (Paolo Bellini “L'opera incisa di Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione” Exh. cat., Castello Sforzesco, Civiche Raccolte Achille Bertarelli, Milano. Civica raccolta delle stampe A. Bertarelli, Milan, 1982)

See also the description of this print at the British Museum (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1447454&partId=1&searchText=Castiglione&images=true&page=2) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (http://metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/399785)    

Condition: good impression but with signs of wear to the plate. The sheet is in very good condition, trimmed to the plate mark and has been laid onto a support sheet of fine washi paper. There are a few surface marks in the area around the head and there is a collector’s ink stamp (verso)

I am selling this original etching by Castiglione—the artist claimed to have made the first monotype—for AU$220 in total (currently US$164.59/EUR146.23/GBP127.27 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. If you are interested in purchasing this fine vignette portrait by an old master, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers the following insight about this print:

“This etching represents the motif of an exoticisng [sic] oriental head that Castiglione returned to many times in the 1640s. Perhaps partly inspired by the foreign traders who frequented the port city of Genoa, these character heads also stem back to the prints of Rembrandt and Jan Lievens. Castiglione produced two series of these exotic types, both large and small, in which he demonstrated his inventiveness and ability to produce a rich chiaroscuro of dramatic lighting with nothing more than an etcher’s needle.” (http://metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/399785)

Although I love Castiglioni’s etchings of tronies—i.e. the 16–17th-century Dutch word for "face", which Wikipedia defines as “a common type, or group of types, of works common in Dutch Golden Age painting and Flemish Baroque painting that shows an exaggerated facial expression or a stock character in costume”—my interest in Castiglioni is more centred in the way that he integrates his figures with their immediate surroundings. For instance, note how Castiglioni intentionally avoids creating an outline around this figure’s headdress and, instead, leaves gaps in the outer silhouette lines so that the head visually “melts” into the background. This treatment ensures that the head and background are perceived as a cohesive whole. For me this simple principle is the hallmark of a master draughtsman.

GB Castiglione’s etching, “Laban searching for idols among Jacob's possessions”, c.1635–40

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (aka Il Grechetto) (1609–64)

“Laban searching for idols among Jacob's possessions”, c.1635–40, from the 1740 edition by Jacob Frey (1681–1752)

Etching on buff coloured laid paper trimmed along the image borderline.

Size: (sheet) 24.6 x 32.9 cm

State iv (of iv) with the addition of the publisher details

Inscribed within the image borderline at lower left: "Gio Benedetto Castiglione Genovese"

Lettered below the image borderline at lower right: “Rome apud I. Frey 1740”

TIB 46 (21).4 (11) (Walter L Strauss & Paolo Bellini [Eds.] 1982, “The Illustrated Bartsch”, vol. 46, p. 18); TIB Comment.4602.004 S2; Bartsch XXI.11.4 (Adam von Bartsch “Le Peintre graveur”. Vienna, 1803); Bellini 1982 2.IV (Paolo Bellini “L'opera incisa di Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione” Exh. cat., Castello Sforzesco, Civiche Raccolte Achille Bertarelli, Milano. Civica raccolta delle stampe A. Bertarelli, Milan, 1982)

See the description of this print at The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

http://metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/335666

See also the descriptions of impressions from the same 1740 edition held by University of Arizona Museum of Art and the British Museum:  http://uarizona.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/7AFD8496-D9ED-4269-8655-903834857860;  http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1447091&partId=1&searchText=castiglione+Laban&page=1

Condition: excellent impression of this rare print. The sheet is in superb condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions stains, or foxing) but the sheet has been trimmed to the image borderline with the publication details lettered outside the border retained. There are remnants of mounting verso.

I am selling this exceptionally rare print by the inventor of the monoprint process for the total cost of AU$835 (currently US$618.49/EUR563.12/GBP477.87 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this important early print by one of the most famous of the old master printmakers, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

For those unfamiliar with the story of Laban and Jacob in the book of Genesis (Old Testament), the following extract from the Art Institute of Chicago may be helpful:

“After fleeing Laban’s house in the middle of the night, Jacob and his wives, Rachel and Leah [Laban’s daughters], are overtaken by Laban, who searches for the household idols stolen by Rachel in an attempt to protect Jacob from another twenty years of labor under her father’s rule.” (http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/26739)

As a continuation of the story, Rachel had hidden the idols in her camel’s saddlebag and tells her father (Laban) that she is unable to dismount from the camel because “the way of women is upon me” (i.e. Rachel was pretending to be suffering from the discomfort of her menstruation period) (Genesis 31.35). Wicked! … or as Edwin Astin in “Wicked Bible” (2001) points out, “So often in these stories cunning and deception are praised more than honest dealings!” (p. 51).

Leaving aside the story illustrated in this print, what I love about this image is the ease with which it is drawn. When I look at the figure with the hairy chest, for instance, I can picture even the great Picasso admiring Castiglione’s confidence in making every line count. This doesn’t mean that each stroke is laid with anatomical precision or that the marks are calligraphically beautiful. Instead, each line captures the spirit of the artist’s vision and expresses meaning without undue refinements. In short, this is the drawing of a master who works with an unambiguous flow of knowing what is to be expressed and feeling it in every stroke.

Like all artists, however, this print exemplifies the artist’s interests and compositional tendencies. For example, the Art Institute of Chicago in its description of this print (mentioned earlier) offers the following insights:

“The image demonstrates Castiglione’s preference for patriarchal themes and his tendency to place animals in the foreground of his compositions: two sheep rest in the left-hand corner.”