 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Reliquary Central miniature of The Adoration of the Shepherds ca. 1600 watercolor on vellum Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Portable Altarpiece Central miniature of The Annunciation ca. 1600 watercolor on vellum Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Miniature of Christ giving the Keys to St Peter 1598 watercolor and gouache on vellum Musée du Louvre |
Giovanni Battista Castello (1547-1637), called Il Genovese (to distinguish him from his unrelated contemporary of the same name, the history painter and architect Giovanni Battista Castello (1509-1569) called Il Bergamasco), was born in Genoa, the elder brother of the better-known Mannerist painter Bernardo Castello (1557-1629). Il Genovese specialized almost exclusively in devotional miniatures on vellum, a genre he revived and expanded from models found in late-Medieval and early-Renaissance illuminated manuscripts. His works, often incorporated into reliquaries and portable altars, were prized by European monarchs and aristocrats as adornments for their personal chapels or cabinets of curiosities. Some few examples (like those above) are preserved in major museums, but the majority of the artist's surviving paintings remain (like those below) in private collections.
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Portable Altarpiece Central miniature of the Virgin and Child enthroned with Pope Pius V and Saints in Adoration surrounded by 23 smaller miniatures before 1637 gouache on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Portable Altarpiece Detail of surrounding miniatures before 1637 gouache on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Portable Altarpiece Detail of surrounding miniatures before 1637 gouache on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Portable Altarpiece Detail of central miniature before 1637 gouache on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Portable Altarpiece Detail of surrounding miniatures before 1637 gouache on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Portable Altarpiece Detail of surrounding miniatures before 1637 gouache on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Miniature of The Adoration of the Shepherds before 1637 watercolor on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Miniature of The Circumcision before 1637 tempera on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Miniature of The Adoration of the Magi before 1637 gouache on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Miniature of The Agony in the Garden before 1637 watercolor and tempera on vellum private collection |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Castello (Il Genovese) Miniature of The Descent from the Cross 1600 tempera on vellum private collection |