In this work, Castiglione, Rembrandt's light and airy Italian contemporary, offers a stunning portrait of a young man. This small treasure is an illustration of Castiglione's lively handling of the etching needle that produced rich textures and a range of dark tonalities for which he was revered. Castiglione sought to create not only a portrait, but an assessment of his subject's character using the Renaissance science of physiognomy in which the temperament and other characteristic qualities of the mind could be discerned based on a careful inspection of facial features. Twisting around with mouth wide open, the young subject of this work appears as if caught in a moment of agony or rage.
Castiglione's skilled touch highlights his subject's physical traits - his wild hair, thick eyebrows, and classic profile- that contribute to this overall sense of his subject's volatile personality. Using a myriad of organized zig zags, scribbles, and cross hatchings, Castiglione summons a sense of who this subject is, not just what he looks like.

This work is signed in the plate in the upper left with the artist’s monogram followed by the inscription “Castilione | Genovese.”; It is from the first and only state and belongs to the series known as the "Small Studies of Heads in Oriental Headdress."

DOCUMENTED AND ILLUSTRATED IN:
1. Bartsch. The Illustrated Bartsch Vol. 46 Part 1. Edited by Paolo Bellini. New York: Abaris Books, 1981. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 41 (30) on pg. 48.
2. Bartsch. The Illustrated Bartsch Vol 46 Part 2. Edited by Paolo Bellini. New York: Abaris Books, 1981. Illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 41 (30) on pgs. 54-55.

ABOUT THE FRAMING:
Framed to archival museum grade conservation standards, this piece is framed in a complementary moulding with silk mats and optical grade Plexiglas.