header image
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione
In Genoa, Italy, a port city that traded regularly with the Ottoman Empire, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione may have encountered Turkish or North African merchants, but his series Small Studies of Heads depicts imagined types rather than likenesses of real people. The lavish headdresses, caricatured expressions, and gender ambiguity of many of these figures play into contemporary stereotypes that defined non-Europeancultures by their differences from Western European society. This is further emphasized by Castiglione's decision to sign his works' "Genovese," marking his Italian identity in opposition to the "foreignness" of his subjects.
Details
Italian, 1609-1664

8 featured

Figure Holding a Large Banderole, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Holding a Large Banderole, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Facing Right, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Facing Right, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Facing Right, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Facing Right, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Facing Left, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Facing Left, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure with Their Head Lowered, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure with Their Head Lowered, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure with Their Head Leaning Against Their Shoulder, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure with Their Head Leaning Against Their Shoulder, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Wearing a Fur Cap, Facing Left, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Wearing a Fur Cap, Facing Left, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Facing Right, from the series Small Studies of Heads
Figure Facing Right, from the series Small Studies of Heads

Where you'll find this

Yale University Art Gallery
Yale University Art Gallery

New Haven, Connecticut•OPEN

MAP