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Overview
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-1664) was an Italian Baroque artist, painter, printmaker and draftsman of the Genoese school. He is best known now for his elaborate etchings and engravings, as well as being the inventor of the printmaking technique of monotyping.
His etchings are remarkable for light and shade, and have even earned for Castiglione the name of a second Rembrandt. He was exposed to Rembrandt's etching by 1630. He depicted portraits, historical pieces and landscapes, but chiefly excelled in fairs, markets and rural scenes with animals.
Noah's ark and the animals entering the ark was a favorite subject of his, both in painting and printmaking (as here). Before the Flood, Noah was charged by God to build an ark and to save a male and a female of every species (Genesis VII, 1-9). The biblical story allowed Castiglione to depict a lively assortment of animals: pairs of deer, cows, sheep and even guinea pigs, who make their way to the ark barely delineated in the far ground. A lone horse in the midst of the throng dominates the composition, but the urinating goat on the right, showing robust Flemish animal art influence, steals the show. This etching demonstrates a controlled use of Rembrandtesque chiaroscuro, which creates dramatic effects through the contrast of light and shadow.
Te Papa owns two impressions of this print; this one was presented to the National Art Gallery by Sir John Ilott, while the other one (1869-0001-85) was part of the foundation art collection of the Colonial Museum, and was presented by Bishop Ditlev Monrad in 1869.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Benedetto_Castiglione
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/335674
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art June 2017