Giovanni Battista Castello

He was an architect and sculptor as well as painter. When young, he apprenticed with Aurelio Buso of Crema, a pupil of Polidoro da Caravaggio. He was sponsored in Genoa by Tobia Pallavicino and sent to Rome for some years. He returned to decorate the Palazzo Pallavicino and the church of San Marcellino. He painted the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian in the monastery of San Sebastiano. Along with his friend Luca Cambiaso, Castello was commissioned by the Duke Grimaldi to decorate the ceiling of the choir of the Nunziata di Portoria in Genoa, with a fresco of Christ as judge of the world. Castello and Cambiaso shared other projects, including work in a chapel for the Duomo di San Lorenzo. He decorated rooms of the Villa Lanzi, Gorlago, near Bergamo, with scenes from the Iliad. In 1567, he was invited to Madrid to become a painter and architect to Philip II. He also executed some works in the Escorial, and died holding the office of architect of the royal palaces, including the Pardo Palace. In 1568, he did the first sketch for the decoration of the Real, the biggest galley of its time.

Giovanni Battista Castello is recorded as architect, painter, sculptor and artist.