Italian painter Valerio Castello (1624 – 1659) was an artist of the Baroque period. He was very active during his short life in Genoa. From foreign countries, orders for his pictures came to Genoa, and this raised their prices too high for words. Castello was born to a family of painters; he studied works by painters known for their vivid colors and emotional power – he also copied drawings in his late father's studio. Castello passionately studied a vast range of sources, and this made him to form a sophisticated and unique artistic style. Castello felt confined by his local teachers' interest in naturalism and narrative, so he left for Parma and Milan. There, he scrutinized works by artists who manipulated nature in the service of expressiveness. Patrons admired his paintings of religious and mythological subjects as well as his lively oil sketches.
His style united elegant figures with violent, dramatic compositions composed of vibrant colors and spontaneous brushwork. His lively frescoes of dramatic illusionism and glowing color in various Genoese palaces made him most famous. Castello died suddenly at the height of a brilliant career. His thriving workshop's pupils included Bartolomeo Biscaino. He influenced the work of young Domenico Piola. His admirers regard him in his works as combining the general style of Paolo Veronese with the fire of Tintoretto. Among his pupils were Giovanni Paolo Cervetto, Bartolomeo Biscaino, and the father of Alessandro, Stefano Magnasco. He painted a Consolation of Saint Francis which can be found at the Blanton Museum of Art. He also painted a Diana and Acteaon now at the Norton Art Museum.
