Laureys a Castro
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Laureys a Castro or Lourenço A. Castro was a Flemish painter of marine views and portraits who is mainly known for his work carried out in England roughly between 1672 and 1700. He was regarded as a leading marine painter in England.


Life

There are very few details about Laureys a Castro’s life and training. It is assumed he was the son of the Flemish marine painter Sebastian Castro. His family was of Portuguese descent and had settled in Antwerp likely to escape the persecution of Jews during the
Portuguese Inquisition The Portuguese Inquisition ( Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of its king, John III. ...
of the early 1600s. It is assumed Laureys received his training from his father.About Laureys A. Castro
at Jean Moust
Laureys is recorded as a 'wijnmeester' (i.e. son of a master) in the Antwerp
Guild of Saint Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was ide ...
in 1664–65.Laureys a Castro
at the
Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...
Based on the subjects of his paintings, he likely travelled and visited many Mediterranean ports such as Lisbon, Genoa, Malta and Sicily. Around 1670–72 he settled in England where he was active as a marine and portrait painter working principally on commission.Lorenzo A. Castro (Antwerp, active 1672–1686), ''A Mediterranean harbour with Turks and Orientals bringing goods ashore, three galleys and a man-o'-war at anchor''
at Christie’s
It is not known when or where he died. No paintings are attributed to him after the end of the 17th century. A record of 1695 of "Lawrence Castro" in Whitecross Street, London and various works by an artist of that name in English collections suggest that Castro was at that time still working in England.


Work

Castro’s period of activity is variously given as 1664 to 1700 and 1672 to 1686. The latter, shorter period is based on the known dated paintings of Castro. While Castro is mainly known for his marine paintings, he also painted portraits, religious subjects and likely genre scenes.Laureys (Lorenzo) a Castro (active 1672–1700), Artist
at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Many of his works are held in English private and public collections, in particular in the
Dulwich Picture Gallery Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London, which opened to the public in 1817. It was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane using an innovative and influential method of illumination. Dulwich is the oldest pub ...
, which holds about seven works and the
National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...
, which holds three works. His marine paintings cover the whole range of subjects typical for marine painters in the 17th century such as sailing ships and galleys at sea, port scenes, Mediterranean harbour capriccios, ships in distress, storms at sea and naval battles. These compositions show him to be steeped in Flemish and Dutch traditions of marine painting. His seascapes evidence a vigour and vividness of colour while some of his battle scenes are surprisingly calm. He created many renderings of naval battles and his earliest dated painting is a 1672 imaginary interpretation of the ''
Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between a maritime fleet of Octavian led by Marcus Agrippa and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII Philopator. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, ...
'' (
National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...
, London).Lorenzo A. Castro (Antwerp, active 1672–1686), ''A capriccio of a Mediterranean harbour with elegant figures disembarking, shipping beyond''
at Christie's
He painted a panoramic view of the ''
Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...
'' (Sold at
Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...
on 8 December 2004 in London, lot 135). This painting may have been inspired by the frequently reproduced Dutch line engraving after
Stradanus Stradanus, Johannes Stradanus, Jan van der Straet or Giovanni StradanoMore name variations: Johannes Stradanus, Giovanni della Strada, Johannes della Strada, Giovanni Stradano, Johannes Stradano, Giovanni Stradanus, Johannes Stradanus, Jan van St ...
of 1590. The work, which depicts the defeat of the Turkish naval force by a European coalition in 1571, is undated but was likely painted around 1683, the year that the Turks unsuccessfully laid siege to Vienna. It is likely that the general relief after the retreat of the Turks before Vienna provided the impulse for this composition. Castro also depicted more contemporary naval engagements such as in his '' A Sea Fight with Barbary Corsairs'', which gives a dramatic depiction of a close combat engagement with Barbary pirates (Dulwich Picture Gallery). Another frequently recurring theme of his compositions are capriccios of Mediterranean ports. It is likely that Castro was acquainted with Mediterranean ports such as Genoa, Malta and Lisbon. The ports depicted in these compositions are not always identifiable. A good example is the '' A Mediterranean port with a Maltese, Spanish and a Dutch man-o'-war'', which depicts a frigate sailing into a Mediterranean port where there are already a Dutch man-of-war, two or three Spanish vessels and a Maltese galley alongside the quay. The harbour town and the many persons onshore are painted in detail making it possible to recognize a Knight of Malta. Castro is also believed to have painted religious paintings as indicated by a drawing of a ''Virgin with Child, St John the Baptist and Angels'' in the
Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent The Museum of Fine Arts ( nl, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, MSK) an art museum in Ghent, Belgium, is situated at the East side of the Citadelpark (near the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst). The museum's collection consists of some 9000 artworks ...
.Virgin and Child, with Saint John and Angels
He was a capable portraitist as demonstrated by the '' Portrait of Sir Robert Clayton (1629–1707)'', which is a full-length portrait of Sir Robert Clayton in ceremonial robes ( Bank of England collection). Engravings made by John Smith after designs by Castro show that he may also have produced
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
scenes (National Portrait Gallery, London).


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Laureys a Flemish Baroque painters Flemish marine artists Flemish war artists Flemish portrait painters Painters from Antwerp