Frans van de Casteele (Kasteels) called Francesco da Castello (Brussels, ca. 1541 - Rome, 1621) adoration of the shepherds crowning with thorns First decade of the 17th century. Tempera and gold on parchment, 290 x 240 mm (with frame). Original wooden frame with trimmed silver foil applications; in the corners, medallions with the four evangelists. This precious Agnus Dei couple is made up of two oval miniatures on parchment representing the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Crowning with Thorns, framed by contemporary frames of perforated silver sheet, on a background of blue taffeta, inscribed in frames of ebonized wood. In the corners of both cut-out silver frames, four medallions with miniatures of the Evangelists on a gold background are included, while in the center of the lateral margins four little angelic heads and three silver rosettes are respectively applied. The two central miniatures, perfectly preserved, represent a joyous and a painful episode in the life of Jesus Christ. The first shows the Holy Family surrounded by shepherds in an adoring attitude, offering presents to the Child Jesus. The shepherd in the foreground, kneeling with his back to the viewer, rests one hand on a wide-brimmed hat and offers a basket with the other. Another shepherd hands him a sheep with its legs tied, symbol of the Christian sacrificial lamb, while a third plays the panpipe accompanied by four other characters and a long-nosed dog. The scene takes place outdoors, next to a stable from which the ox and donkey poke their heads, before a landscape of hills with the ruins of a temple. In the top center, an angel in luminous glory holds a phylactery with the text “Glory [...]”. The Virgin tenderly shows those present the Child wrapped in a white cloth, while Joseph behind her leans on a pillar. The miniature, in bright and bright colors enhanced with chrysographs, bears in its lower area the characteristic pile of dark earth with a sprig, the unmistakable signature of the artist that appears in all his landscape-setting miniatures. The Crowning with Thorns is an episode in the Passion cycle that follows that of the flagellation and precedes that of Ecce Homo, after which Christ was led to the crucifixion. The scene takes place in a courtyard, in the center of which Jesus, seated on a dais and dressed in a purple cloak illuminated with chrysographies, wears the crown of thorns and holds a reed in one hand as a sceptre. Two soldiers fit the crown on the head of Christ with two canes that intertwine to form the symbol of the cross, making his forehead bleed, while another henchman kneels before him to mock him. In the background, some guards with characteristic turbans attend the scene under a green curtain lined in red, while in the lower area there is an open hole in the pavement that constitutes a characteristic motif of the artist present in all his miniatures set indoors. Both miniatures, of great artistic quality, are undoubtedly the work of Francesco da Castello, Italianized name of Frans van de Casteele (Brussels, ca. 1541 - Rome, October 23, 1621). Francesco da Castello, painter and miniaturist, arrived in Rome during the pontificate of Gregory XIII (r. 1572-1585) and very early specialized in the “small way”, as Giovanni Baglione recalls in his biography dedicated to the artist: “At that time Francesco da Castello came from Flanders to Rome, who already had some knowledge of painting. But here in Rome he perfected himself, and delighting in working small, to which he felt inclined, genius led him in that direction, becoming a good miniaturist, and he produced beautiful works that went to Spain, as he also worked for Diverse personages and great princes, and carried out things that earned him great praise. He painted equally well, with success, and did many works for the Spanish nation. [...] This man painted few things for public places, because he was very busy making miniatures, which he did excellently, and were paid at a good price; and many of his works have remained in private hands, and some of the most beautiful were sent to other parts of the world” (cfr. G. Baglione, Le Vite de' Pittori..., Rome 1642, pp. 86-87 ). In Rome Francesco da Castello developed a brilliant career, was photographed by Hendrick Goltzius and related to important Flemish personalities and scholars, including Philips van Winghe, Abraham Ortelius and Hendrick de Raeff of Delft, called Enrico Corvino, who in 1603 married his daughter Catherine. Added to the Congregation of the Virtuosos of the Pantheon, from 1577 he was a member of the Academy of San Lucas, of which he was consul in 1588 and in 1591. His house soon became a meeting place for artists where many of his compatriots found hospitality and a valuable point of reference to get into the Roman environment. In addition, together with Francesco da Castello they learned "the good way of painting small", appropriating the essential features of the master's style, as Baglione narrates about his German disciple Sigismondo Laire (ca. 1552-1639), who specialized in in "coloring small figures in copper" and that "he painted on various jewels, such as lapis lazuli, agates, emeralds, carnelians, and other things" (cf. ibidem, p. 353). From these news it is clear that Francesco da Castello was an artist appreciated by his contemporaries and well integrated into the Roman artistic and cultural environment. In recent years, the catalog of the works of the Flemish artist, known above all for his large altarpieces, has been increased with new miniatures preserved in museums and private collections around the world. Among his most beautiful miniatures should be mentioned the Adoration of the Magi from the Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid, characterized by a fiery chromaticism with iridescent effects and a descriptive preciousness typical of the flamenco manner. Another miniature, with the Annunciation, formerly in the Luigi Koelliker collection, is the reworking of a widespread iconographic model derived from the famous 13th century fresco of the Annunciation in the church of the Santissima Annunciation in Florence, of which the face of the Virgin, which according to tradition had been painted by angels, it was particularly revered and considered miraculous. In the mid-15th century, the sacred image acquired special value for the Medicis, who prohibited its reproduction at least until the early eighties of the 16th century, when due to continuous requests from influential figures of the time, permission was granted. to copy it. In 1584 Alessandro Allori painted a replica of it commissioned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, to be sent as a gift to Philip II of Spain, which is still preserved today in the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. A delicious image of the Guardian Angel, recently located in a private collection in Valencia, in addition to fulfilling a devotional function –typical of this type of work– gave protection to whoever possessed it. The cult of the saints, ratified at the XXV and last session of the Council of Trent (1563), had firmly spread the belief that their intercession was increased by reciting prayers in the presence of their relics or their images, especially if the latter they had been in contact with his remains or had been blessed by the pope. The relics and sacred images were often associated with the power to grant or transmit indulgences to whoever possessed them. This aroused in the powerful the desire to have numerous relics and increased the production of devotional images that often represented subjects that were especially revered or considered miraculous, such as the ancient madonnas of Roman basilicas. Thus a flourishing artistic market developed, made up to a large extent of small sacred images, of medium or high quality, the most prestigious specimens of which were kept in reliquaries or refinedly framed, intended for a Catholic clientele that was not only Italian but also foreign. Among the recipients of these objects were numerous representatives of the most important noble lineages of Spain, eager to imitate the extraordinary devotion of Felipe II for the relics that the monarch kept by the thousands in the Monastery of El Escorial and that he adored and kissed with great care. reverence. A complex ebony portable altar made up of various compartments with miniatures, sold at Sotheby's with an erroneous attribution to Giovanni Battista Castello the Genoese (Genoa, 1549-1639), is however with complete certainty the work of Francesco da Castello. The central miniature represents the Virgin of the Rosary with the Child and Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-1590) kneeling at her feet with various saints in adoration, including Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Dominic in the foreground. . The central scene is surrounded by the fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary, in the lower part appears the Last Supper and above, in the top of the frame, the angelic Paradise, while in the corners there are the four evangelists followed by two other compartments with the apostles. Pedro and Pablo. In relation to the examples cited, the two refined miniatures of the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Crowning with Thorns are works of the artist's full maturity, dating to the first decade of the 17th century, characterized by formal simplification and pure colors in the invoice of the garments that stand out on the ivory flesh of the characters. Among the numerous motifs comparable to those of other miniatures by Francesco da Castello, the small medallions with the Evangelists barely sketched on a golden background closely recall the miniatures, of reduced dimensions, inserted in the compartments of the frame of the little altar with the Mysteries. del Rosario, as well as those of another small box with compartments with the Tree of Jesse preserved in the Valencia Institute of Don Juan in Madrid, of which there is another version from an earlier period and with a marked Flemish influence with a reliquary-frame currently in the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia. In addition, another version of the Crowning with Thorns, rectangular in format and slightly weaker in construction, was sold at Christie's with an erroneous attribution to Giovanni Battista Castello the Genoese, although the miniature must surely be attributed to the “romanized” Flemish master Francesco da Castello . Thanks to Ms. Elena De Laurentiis Dra. University of Genoa for carrying out the study.
· Size: 23,5x1,5x28,5 cms.
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