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Old Masters

Valerio Castello, The Virgin, God the Father and a Carmelite saint , ca. 1650 - 1655

Valerio Castello Genoa, 1624-1659

The Virgin, God the Father and a Carmelite saint , ca. 1650 - 1655
oil on canvas
48 x 39 in
122 x 99 cm
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Provenance

Collection of Angelo Costa, Genoa, 20th century


Exhibitions

Genoa, Rubinacci Antichità, Dipinti del XVII e XVIII secolo, 1968
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School (14 September - 16 December 2023)

Literature

G. Biavati, Valerio Castello: tra manierismo e rococò, ‘Emporium’, September 1962, pp. 100, 102, fig. 4; M. Bonzi, Pellegro Piola e Bartolomeo Biscaino, Genoa, 1963 (s. p.); Dipinti del XVII e XVIII secolo, Genoa, Rubinacci Antichità, 1968, n. 5; C. Manzitti, Valerio Castello, Genoa, 1972, entry 81, p. 158; A. Orlando, Dipinti già Costa. Una prima schedatura, in Genova e il collezionismo del Novecento. Studi nel centenario di Angelo Costa (1901-1976), ed. A. Orlando, Turin, 2001, p. 166, n. 33, fig. 113; C. Manzitti, Valerio Castello, Turin, 2004, pp. 144-145, n. 119

Expertise by Anna Orlando

Publications

Faith, Beauty and Devotion. Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque paintings. Exhibition catalogue, Miami, 2023, pp. 102-105

This exquisite canvas with its extraordinarily sumptuous blues and reds was first presented by Giuliana Biavati in 1962, when it was in the collection of the Genoese ship owner Angelo Costa. The painting is considered fundamental to understanding Valerio Castello’s inventive transition to an early Baroque style, and consequently his great influence in guiding Ligurian painting in Liguria towards modernity. The canvas depicting The Virgin, God the Father and a Carmelite saint is the size of paintings typically meant for a private chapel in a noble palace. The Carmelite order had a significant presence in Genoa, thanks to Nicolò Doria (1539-1594) who founded the first Discalced Carmelite convent in the city. Thus we might hypothesize a possible, although not yet documented, Doria patronage. The composition is a perfect example of the finest Italian and International Baroque style, based on the dynamics of diagonal lines. The rhythm of the gestures, the proliferation of gazes, the drapery and the little angels flying about heighten the dynamism of the scene. Valerio expresses genius in the instinctive brushwork and the intensity of those reds and blues: master strokes in the rendering of a scene that is simultaneously lifelike and magical, real and unreal, creating a dreamlike setting for the mystical vision.


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