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A Congress of Animals

1641–1710
Not on view
The graphic oeuvre of the elusive Francesco Castiglione, son and assistant of Giovanni Benedetto (1609-1664), can be based largely on the name annotated at the bottom of the sheet by a late-eighteenth-century collector known as the "Reliable Venetian Hand" for the accuracy of his attributions (see Percy 1971, nos. 120, 121; Bean 1979, nos. 113, 114). As a painter, Francesco imitated his father but used a lighter, more saturated palette of colors. As a draftsman, the son preferred a fine pen outline with zigzag strokes for shading and the delicate translucency of watercolor to the father's bold use of the brush and dense application of oil paint on paper. The subject matter of Francesco's two drawings in the Museum’s collection reflects the lasting influence of Dutch and Flemish animal paintings, drawings, and prints in Liguria. The position of the lion in the grouping of animals and birds in the Museum’s "Young Hunter" (inv. 08.227.24) and in the "Congress of Animals" (inv. 08.227.25) may allude to its role as the king of the beasts, based on Aesop's fables.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Congress of Animals
  • Artist: Giovanni Francesco Castiglione (Italian, Genoa 1641–1710 Genoa)
  • Date: 1641–1710
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and watercolor, over traces of black chalk
  • Dimensions: 8 1/8 x 12 1/8in. (20.7 x 30.8cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1908
  • Object Number: 08.227.25
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Young Hunter with His Dogs in a Landscape, Giovanni Francesco Castiglione Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and watercolor
Young Hunter with His Dogs in a Landscape
Giovanni Francesco Castiglione
1641–1710
Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti, Giovanni Paolo Panini Italian, Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, watercolor, over graphite
Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti
Giovanni Paolo Panini
ca. 1756–58
The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, Jacques Louis David French, Black chalk, pen and black and brown ink, brush and gray and brown wash, heightened with white gouache
The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons
Jacques Louis David
1787
Dune Landscape with Oak Tree, Jacob van Ruisdael Dutch, Black chalk, brush and gray wash, and gouache; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Dune Landscape with Oak Tree
Jacob van Ruisdael
1650–55
Youth Playing a Pipe for a Satyr, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto) Italian, Brush with colored oil paint; paper partly saturated with oil; lined
Youth Playing a Pipe for a Satyr
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto)
1645–50

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