1956.24.197
Madonna and Child with God the Father and Adoring Angels
Artist
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Greghetto)
(Genoa, Italy, 1609 - 1664, Mantua, Italy)
Title
Madonna and Child with God the Father and Adoring Angels
Creation Date
ca. 1645
Century
17th century
Dimensions
8 7/16 in. x 6 11/16 in. (21.43 cm. x 16.99 cm.)
Object Type
drawing
Creation Place
Europe, Italy
Medium and Support
pen and brown ink and brown wash on paper
Credit Line
Gift of Miss Susan Dwight Bliss
Copyright
Public Domain
Accession Number
1956.24.197
A prolific and brilliant draftsman, Castiglione dedicated numerous pen-and-ink drawings to a scene in which the sky above Mary and the infant Jesus opens and God appears among the angels. The Museum has two such works; others are at Princeton University and in Windsor Castle. The group might be related to Castiglione’s first monumental altarpiece in the church of San Luca, Genoa, from 1645 that depicts the Nativity. An immediate success, this altarpiece spawned numerous drawings over the next fifteen years and helped Castiglione to build a lasting reputation that far exceeded his hometown of Genoa.