Young man facing three quarters right wearing a fur headdress with a plume, jewel and a headband, from "Small Heads in Oriental Headdress"
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 3/8 × 5 7/8 in. (21.2 × 15 cm) Plate: 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
Gift of Kenneth Grebinar, 2005
Accession Number
2005.377.63
Tags
About this artwork
This etching presents a character study of a young man in three-quarter view wearing an exotic fur headdress adorned with a plume, jewel, and headband. The subject exemplifies Castiglione's interest in depicting figures in oriental or exotic costume, though the "oriental" designation reflects European fantasy rather than ethnographic accuracy. The etching demonstrates Castiglione's skill in rendering varied textures through different etching techniques, from the soft fur of the headdress to the ...
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...