Charles VI, King of France, Receiving Ambassadors from Antoniotto Adorno, Doge of Genoa
1620s
16th century
11.5 cm x 19.6 cm (4 1/2 in. x 7 11/16 in.)
Bernardo Castello
(Albaro [Genoa], 1557 - 1629, Genoa)
Primary
Object Type:
drawing
Artist Nationality:
Europe, Italian
Medium and Support:
Pen and brown ink with brush and gray wash and white heightening (slightly oxidized) on blue antique laid paper
Credit Line:
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Suida-Manning Collection, 2017
Accession Number:
2017.1010
An autograph inscription identifies this scene as one of at least seven from the life of Antoniotto Adorno, doge during Genoa’s first great period, in the 14th-century. There survives at least one other drawing from the series. Their subjects, lunette format and monumental conception, suggest that they were pre-paratory for the fresco decoration of a Genoese palace. Although no such cycle by Castello is known, Lazzaro Tavarone did execute one in the Palazzo Cattaneo-Adorno in 1624. Castello’s drawings could well have served as models in a competition for that project.