The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, miniature [Italy (Genoa), c.1590-1600]

miniature, 265x204mm, vellum, reverse blank, three small worm holes not affecting the figures, tiny pigment losses towards margins, overall in very good condition, framed

From the collection of ESTELLE DOHENY (1875-1958), one of the most renowned American women book collectors of the 20th century; gift to the Edward Laurence Doheny Memorial Library, St John’s Seminary, Camarillo (CA); their sale London, Christie’s, 2 December 1987, lot 178.

Subsequently Bernard H. Breslauer, New York (see W.M. Voelkle and R.S. Wieck, Bernard H. Breslauer Collection of Manuscript Illuminations, exh.cat., 1992, no.93).

This miniature has been recognised by Elena De Laurentiis only recently as a fine work by GIOVANNI BATTISTA CASTELLO (Genoa, b.c.1549-d.1639; see E. De Laurentiis, ‘Il pio Genovese Giovanni Battista Castello’, Alumina. Pagine miniate, 37, 2012, pp.26-35). Giovanni Battista Castello, called Il Genovese, is not to be confused with another Giovanni Battista Castello (c. 1509-69), also active in Genoa but called Il Bergamasco, after his native city Bergamo. Il Genovese is known for his elegant miniatures which are highly finished in detail and colour. Lauded by 16th-century poets and writers for his artistic gifts, Giovanni Battista Castello undertook commissions for such prestigious patrons as Philip II of Spain and Margaret of Austria, during her time in Genoa. The Presentation in the Temple dates to Castello's early artistic career in the 1590s: close in style are the Incredulity of Saint Thomas, signed and dated 1593 (Christie's, New York, 30 January 1998, lot 31), the Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple, signed and dated 1598 (Madrid, Museo Lázaro Galdiano, see De Laurentiis, op.cit., p.30), and Christ Giving the Keys to St Peter, signed and dated in the same year (Paris, Musée du Louvre, see ead., ‘La collezione di "Italian illuminated cuttings" della British Library’, in Il codice miniato in Europa. Libri per la chiesa, per la città, per la corte, 2014, pp.673-95, esp.pp.681-92). The composition of the present miniature is based on a print of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple by Cornelis Cort (1533-78; see Voelkle and Wieck, op.cit., no.93, fig.15). The miniature may have been produced as an independent picture or belonged to a series on the life of Christ.