Giovanni Battista Castello (1500 or 1509–1569 or 1579) was an Italian historical painter. Born in

Gandino Gandino ( Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. Gandino borders the following municipalities: Casnigo, ...

near Bergamo, he is ordinarily termed Il Bergamasco to distinguish him from the other painter (of miniatures) with the identical name from school of

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. His best-known works are the paintings on the vault of the

Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato The Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato is the Catholic cathedral of Genoa, northern Italy; its decoration employed the major baroque studios and artists in Genoa in the 17th century. It is named ''Vastato'' because the area where it ...

.Giovanni Battista Castello
-

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

article He was an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

as well as painter. When young, he apprenticed with Aurelio Buso of

Crema Crema or Cremas may refer to: Crema * Crema, Lombardy, a ''comune'' in the northern Italian province of Cremona * Crema (coffee), a thin layer of foam at the top of a cup of espresso * Crema (dairy product), the Spanish word for cream * ''Cremà ...

, a pupil of

Polidoro da Caravaggio Polidoro Caldara, usually known as Polidoro da Caravaggio ( – 1543) was an Italian painter of the Mannerist period, "arguably the most gifted and certainly the least conventional of Raphael's pupils", who was best known for his now-vanished pa ...

. He was sponsored in Genoa by Tobia Pallavicino and sent to Rome for some years. He returned to decorate the palazzo Pallavicino and the church of San Marcellino. He painted of the ''Martyrdom of St. Sebastian'' in the monastery of San Sebastiano. Along with

Luca Cambiaso Luca Cambiaso (also known as Luca Cambiasi and Luca Cangiagio (being ''Cangiaxo'' the surname in Ligurian); 18 November 1527 – 6 September 1585) was an Italian painter and draughtsman and the leading artist in Genoa in the 16th century. He i ...

, was commissioned by the Duke Grimaldi to decorate the ceiling of the choir of the Nunziata di Portoria in Genoa, with a fresco of ''Christ as judge of the world''. He worked on various projects with his friend Cambiaso, including in a chapel for the Duomo di San Lorenzo. He decorated rooms of the Villa Lanzi, Gorlago, near Bergamo, with scenes from the Iliad. In 1567 he was invited to Madrid to become painter and architect to

Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

. He also executed some works in the

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up ...

, and died holding the office of architect of the royal palaces, including the Pardo Palace. As architect, he is supposed to have remodeled the church of San Matteo in Genoa and to have designed the imperial palace at Campetto. In 1568, he did the first sketch for the decoration of the , the biggest galley of its time. He died at

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

in 1569 or 1579.

References

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External links

Giovanni Battista Castello
at . {{DEFAULTSORT:Castello Giovanni Battista 1500s births 1570s deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Bergamo Italian Mannerist painters