Bernardo Castello

An unidentified paraphe in pen and brown ink on the backing;
sale, London, Christie's, 10 July 1962, lot 141 (as Polidoro da Caravaggio), purchased by Ralph Holland

Newcastle, 1964, no. 19;
Edinburgh, The Merchants' Hall, Italian 16th Century Drawings from British Private Collections, 1969, no. 24, reproduced pl. 53;
Newcastle, 1974, no. 42, reproduced pl. XVIII;
London, 1975, no. 30;
Newcastle, 1982, no. 31, reproduced pl. XIV A

M. Newcome, Genoese Baroque Drawings, exhib. cat., Binghamton, State University of New York, et al., 1972, p. 7, under no. 15;
G. Bora, I Disegni Lombardi e Genovesi del Cinquecento, Treviso 1980, p. 87, under no. 102;
G. Biviati, 'Bernardo Castello', Torquato Tasso tra letteratura, musica, teatro e arti figurative, Ferrara 1985, p. 220;
Gênes triomphante et la Lombardie des Borromée, exhib. cat., Ajaccio, Musée Fesch, 2006-07, p. 20, under no. 1

Laid down on an old mount . Overall in very good condition, paper blue and pen and ink and wash fresh. Two losses: one very tiny over the right margin and what looks like a surface loss below, toward the margin, at the level of the arm of the standing soldier far right.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This drawing was first attributed to Bernardo Castello by Philip Pouncey, who also noted the existence of two related drawings, one at Windsor and the other in the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris.¹  Giulia Biviati has pointed out that the present drawing and the one in Paris are related to a decoration to the right of the central fresco in a room, now very damaged, in the piano nobile of Palazzo Imperiale, Genoa.  The decorative scheme was commissioned from the painter by Gian Vincenzo Imperiale, before 1599.  Imperiale, an aristocrat and a literary man, was involved with the publication of the second edition of Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata in 1604.  Castello's fame owed much to his illustrations for the Gerusalemme Liberata, first published in 1590, followed by two others editions in 1604 and 1617.  In 1586 Castello, who always had strong ties with the literary circle of his time, coming back from a trip to Venice did show some of his drawings for the Gerusalemme Liberata to Torquato Tasso, than in Mantua. They were engraved by Agostino Carracci and Giacomo Franco and were widely distributed.  

1.  Windsor, inv. no. 6337; A.E. Popham and J. Wilde, The Italian Drawings of the XV and XVI Centuries...at Windsor Castle, London 1949, no. 205, reproduced pl. 151; Paris: inv. no. EBA 97, see Ajaccio, Musée Fesch, exhib. cat., reproduced p. 21,  fig. 1