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 cut silver leaf applications; in the corners, medallions with the four evangelists. This exquisite pair of Agnus Dei consists of two oval miniatures on parchment depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Crowning with Thorns, framed by contemporary perforated silver-leaf borders against a blue taffeta background, which are themselves set within ebonized wood frames. In the corners of both silver-cut borders are four medallions with miniatures of the Evangelists on a gold background, while in the center of the side margins are applied four angel heads and three silver rosettes, respectively. The two central miniatures, perfectly preserved, depict a joyful and a sorrowful episode from the life of Jesus Christ. The first shows the Holy Family surrounded by shepherds in adoration, offering gifts to the Christ Child. 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 presents a sheep with its legs tied, a symbol of the Christian sacrificial lamb, while a third plays the panpipes, accompanied by four other figures and a long-nosed dog. The scene unfolds outdoors, next to a stable from which the ox and donkey peek out, against a backdrop of hills and the ruins of a temple. In the upper center, an angel in luminous glory holds a scroll inscribed with “Glory [...]”. The Virgin tenderly displays the Child wrapped in a white cloth to those present, while Joseph leans against a pillar behind her. The miniature, vividly and brightly colored and enhanced with chrysographs, features at its base the characteristic mound of dark earth with a sprig of branches, the artist's unmistakable signature, which appears in all his landscape miniatures. The Crowning with Thorns is an episode in the Passion cycle that follows the Flagellation and precedes the Ecce Homo, after which Christ was led to the crucifixion. The scene unfolds in a courtyard, in the center of which Jesus, seated on a platform and clothed in a purple robe illuminated with chrysographs, wears the crown of thorns and holds a reed in one hand as a scepter. Two soldiers place the crown on Christ's head with two reeds that, when crossed, form the symbol of the cross, causing his forehead to bleed, while another henchman kneels before him to mock him. In the background, some guards with characteristic turbans observe the scene from behind a green curtain lined with red, while in the lower section, an opening in the pavement appears, 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, the 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 soon specialized in the "small style," as Giovanni Baglione recalls in his biography of the artist: “At that time, Francesco da Castello came to Rome from Flanders, already possessing some knowledge of painting. But here in Rome he perfected his skills, and finding delight in working on a small scale, to which he was inclined, his genius led him in that direction, and he became a fine miniaturist. He produced exquisite works, which were sent to Spain, and he also worked for various dignitaries and great princes, accomplishing works that earned him great praise. He also painted on a large scale with success and created many works for the Spanish nation. [...] This man painted few works for public spaces because he was very busy making miniatures, which he executed excellently and for which he was well paid. Many of his works have remained in private hands, and some of the most beautiful were sent to other parts of the world” (cf. G. Baglione, Le Vite de' Pittori..., Rome 1642, pp. 86-87). In Rome, Francesco da Castello enjoyed a brilliant career. He was portrayed by Hendrick Goltzius and associated with important Flemish figures and scholars, including Philips van Winghe, Abraham Ortelius, and Hendrick de Raeff of Delft, known as Enrico Corvino, who married his daughter Caterina in 1603. A member of the Congregation of the Virtuosos of the Pantheon, he was also a member of the Academy of Saint Luke from 1577, serving as its consul in 1588 and 1591. His house soon became a meeting place for artists where many of his compatriots found hospitality and a valuable point of reference for entering the Roman art scene. Furthermore, alongside Francesco da Castello, they learned “the proper way to paint on a small scale,” appropriating the essential features of the master's style, as Baglione recounts regarding his German disciple Sigismondo Laire (ca. 1552-1639), who specialized in “coloring small figures on copper” and who “painted on various jewels, such as lapis lazuli, agates, emeralds, carnelians, and other things” (cf. ibid., p. 353). These reports clearly show 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 catalogue of works by the Flemish artist, known above all for his large altarpieces, has been augmented with new miniatures held in museums and private collections worldwide. Among his most beautiful miniatures is the Adoration of the Magi in the Lázaro Galdiano Museum in Madrid, characterized by vibrant colors with iridescent effects and a descriptive precision typical of the Flemish style. Another miniature, the Annunciation, formerly in the Luigi Koelliker collection, is a reworking of a widespread iconographic model derived from the famous Trecento fresco of the Annunciation in the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence, in which the face of the Virgin, traditionally painted by angels, was particularly venerated and considered miraculous. In the mid-15th century, the sacred image acquired special value for the Medici family, who prohibited its reproduction until at least the early 1580s. Due to persistent requests from influential figures of the time, permission was granted to copy it. In 1584, Alessandro Allori painted a replica commissioned by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to send as a gift to Philip II of Spain. This replica is still preserved today in the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. A delightful image of the Guardian Angel, recently discovered in a private collection in Valencia, not only fulfilled a devotional function—typical of this type of work—but also offered protection to its owner. The veneration of saints, ratified in the 25th and final session of the Council of Trent (1563), had firmly established the belief that their intercession increased when prayers were recited in the presence of their relics or images, especially if the latter had been in contact with their remains or had been blessed by the Pope. Relics and sacred images were often associated with the power to grant or transmit indulgences to their possessors. This spurred the powerful to acquire numerous relics and increased the production of devotional images that often depicted particularly venerated or miraculous subjects, such as the ancient Madonnas of Roman basilicas. Thus developed a flourishing art market, largely composed of small sacred images of medium to high quality, the most prestigious examples of which were kept in reliquaries or exquisitely framed, destined for a Catholic clientele not only Italian but also foreign. Among the recipients of these objects were numerous representatives of the most important noble lineages in Spain, eager to emulate Philip II's extraordinary devotion to the relics that the monarch kept by the thousands in the Monastery of El Escorial and which he adored and kissed with the utmost reverence. A complex portable ebony altarpiece, composed of several compartments with miniatures, sold at Sotheby's with an erroneous attribution to Giovanni Battista Castello the Genoese (Genoa, 1549-1639), is almost certainly the work of Francesco da Castello. The central miniature depicts the Virgin of the Rosary with the Child, and kneeling at her feet are Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-1590) with various saints in adoration, among whom Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Dominic are clearly visible in the foreground. The central scene is surrounded by the fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary; at the bottom appears the Last Supper, and above, at the top of the frame, the Angelic Paradise, while in the corners are the four Evangelists followed by two more compartments with the Apostles Peter and Paul. In relation to the examples cited, the two refined miniatures of the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Crowning with Thorns are works from the artist's mature period, datable to the first decade of the 17th century. They are characterized by formal simplification and pure colors in the rendering of the garments, which stand out against the ivory flesh tones of the figures. Among the numerous motifs comparable to those in other miniatures by Francesco da Castello, the small medallions with the Evangelists barely sketched against a gold background closely resemble the miniatures, of reduced dimensions, inserted in the compartments of the altarpiece frame depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary, as well as those in another small panel with compartments depicting the Tree of Jesse, now in the Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan in Madrid. An earlier version of this Tree of Jesse, with a marked Flemish influence and a reliquary frame, is currently in the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia. Furthermore, another version of the Crowning with Thorns, rectangular in format and of slightly weaker workmanship, was sold at Christie's with erroneous attribution to Giovanni Battista Castello the Genoese, although the miniature should be safely attributed to the "Romanized" Flemish master Francesco da Castello. Thanks to Dr. Elena De Laurentiis, University of Genoa, for conducting the study.
· Size: 23,5x1,5x28,5 cms.
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