Giovanni Battista Castello (1500 or 1509–1569 or 1579) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

historical

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

. 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, Caz ...

near

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

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

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. His best-known works are the paintings on the vault of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato.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 Encyclopedi ...

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, a pupil of

Polidoro da Caravaggio Polidoro Caldara, usually known as Polidoro da Caravaggio ( – 1543), was an Italians, 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- ...

. 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 his friend

Luca Cambiaso Luca Cambiaso (also known as Luca Cambiasi and Luca Cangiagio (being ''Cangiaxo'' the surname in Ligurian (Romance language), Ligurian); 18 November 1527 – 6 September 1585) was an Italian Painting, painter and draughtsman and the leading arti ...

, Castello 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''. Castello and Cambiaso shared other projects, including work in a chapel for the Duomo di San Lorenzo. He decorated rooms of the

Villa Lanzi, Gorlago A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fal ...

, near Bergamo, with scenes from the Iliad. In 1567 he was invited to Madrid to become painter and architect to Philip II. He also executed some works in the

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial and about n ...

, and died holding the office of architect of the royal palaces, including the

Pardo Palace The Royal Palace of El Pardo (, ) is one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family and one of the oldest, being used by the Spanish monarchs since Henry III of Castile in the 15th century. The palace is owned by the Spanish government ...

. 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 List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

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