Castello (Giovanni Battista) — Called Il Bergamasco 1509-1579
Giovanni Castello of Bergamo was a pupil of Alessi’s and distinguished himself in fresco-painting and sculpture. In Genoa he remodelled the Palazzo Pallavicini (now Cataldi) and built the Palazzo Imperiali. Soprani (“Vite de’ Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Genovesi”) says that Il Bergamasco was court-architect to Philip II of Spain and worked on the Escorial. Bryan, in his Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, states that Il Bergamasco was employed on the Prado by Charles V, while his son worked for Philip II.