Important Still Life with the Head of a Ram and a Mouse, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, called "Il Grechetto" ...

Important Still Life with the Head of a Ram and a Mouse, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, called "Il Grechetto", Italian school of the 17th century
Oil on canvas, framed measurements: 65 x 81 cm, Canvas measurements: . Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Genoa, c. 1610 - Mantua, 1665) Italian painter and engraver. He was a disciple of Giovanni Battista Paggi and was influenced by Van Dyck and Rembrandt. He began painting in 1632 in Rome, entering two years later as a member of the Academy of Saint Luke. As early as 1635 he moved to Naples, where he maintained a close relationship with Andrea di Lione. He subsequently returned to Genoa, where his stay in 1639 is documented, and there he exerted great influence. Between 1647 and 1651 Castiglione lived in Rome very close to artists such as Bernini, Cortona, Preti or Maratta, introducing a more lively and baroque rhythm into his works. Also, during this period, he published a significant number of his etchings. Castiglione would end up moving to Mantua to work until his death as court painter to Duke Charles II of Nevers. A court painter, his work, of a marked biblical nature, allowed him to dedicate a large part of his canvases to the realistic representation of animals and objects, specializing in the latter. Related works: another very similar still life, from the Royal Collections and acquired by Isabel de Farnesio to decorate the Palacio de la Granja, and from a similar period preserved in the Prado Museum, Madrid, inventory number P000089. Provenance: Spanish private collection. specializing in the latter. Related works: another very similar still life, from the Royal Collections and acquired by Isabel de Farnesio to decorate the Palacio de la Granja, and from a similar period preserved in the Prado Museum, Madrid, inventory number P000089. Provenance: Spanish private collection. specializing in the latter. Related works: another very similar still life, from the Royal Collections and acquired by Isabel de Farnesio to decorate the Palacio de la Granja, and from a similar period preserved in the Prado Museum, Madrid, inventory number P000089. Provenance: Spanish private collection.