Beschreibung:

The Angel Gabriel appears to Godfrey of Bouillon (from Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata), circa 1590s, pen & brown ink on laid paper, with grey wash, heightened with white, 262 x 190 mm (10.3 x 7.45 ins, laid down on 18th century laid paper, with border in black ink, cream and grey wash, inscribed in ink to lower right corner of the border J:B, and inscribed in brown ink below Bernardo Castelli. No. 3, additionally inscribed in an 18th century hand in brown ink to verso 'J:B. No. 851. 10 1/4 x 7 1/2' and 'Genoese, was a Disciple of Luca Cangiagi, & the Father of Valerio. He died in 1629. aged 72. J:B.', with later mount Provenance: Private collection, Oxfordshire. The present drawing has remained unnoticed in the collection of the family of the owner since the 1930s. An important artist of the Genoese School, Bernardo Castello was a pupil of Luca Cambiaso (1527-1585). Castello's fame was established following the publication of his illustrations for Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata, which was published in Genoa in 1590, with further editions in 1604, 1615 and 1617. The artist painted scenes from Tasso's epic in several Genoese palaces, including the Palazzo de Franchi, Villa Centurione, and the Palazzo Scassi at San Pierdarena. The present drawing, a fine, highly-finished example of his work, appears to show the main character Godfrey of Bouillon on horseback, with his armies, at the moment of the appearance of the Angel Gabriel above urging the hero to lead the crusade to liberate Jerusalem. (1)