Baroque Brilliance: Drawings and Prints by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione

3 December 2021

God appearing to Jacob at Bethel (c. 1647–50), Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Photo: © bpk / Kupferstich- kabinett, SMB /Jörg P. Anders

Nicknamed ‘Il Grechetto’ for the classical feel of his pastoral landscapes, the Genoese artist Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione was among the most fluent draughtsmen of the 17th century. He also produced a prodigious number of etchings, and invented the technique of monotype printmaking. This display at the Kunsthaus Zürich (10 December–6 March 2022) – the first solo show of Castiglione’s work in the German-speaking world – brings together more than 80 of his works on paper. Find out more from the Kunsthaus Zürich’s website.

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Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1648), Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1648), Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Photo: Studio Tromp

Nativity with God the Father (c. 1655), Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

Nymph surprised by a satyr (c. 1765), Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione.

Nymph surprised by a satyr (c. 1765), Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. Photo: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Diogenes seeking a virtuous man (c. 1645–47), Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione.

Diogenes seeking a virtuous man (c. 1645–47), Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. MAH Musée d’art et d’histoire, Ville de Genève