Head of an old bearded man facing right, from "Small Heads in Oriental Headdress"
Medium
Etching with lavis (?)
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 5/16 × 3 1/8 in. (11 × 8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1917
Accession Number
17.50.17-64
Tags
Art Historical Context
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, known Il Grechetto (160–1664), was a masterful Italian Baroque artist renowned for his innovative printmaking and dynamic compositions. This etching, *Head of an old bearded facing right*, from his series *Small Heads in Headdress* (ca. 1645–50), captures the weathered face of an elderly figure turned in profile, adorned in an exotic turban-like headdress. Created during Castiglione's mature period in Genoa, these intimate portraits reflect the 17th-century fascination with Eastern motifs, blending realism with imaginative flair amid the grandeur of Baroque art....
About the Artist
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto) · 1609–1664
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, known as Il Grechetto, was baptized on March 23, 1609, in Genoa and died on May 5, 1664, in Mantua. Born into a large family, he collaborated closely with his brother Salvatore, an artist who shared his talents, and later taught his son Francesco, whose works were sometimes confused with his own. His parents placed him in the studio of Giovanni Battista Paggi, where...