Feast Before the Altar of the God Terminus

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione was born and trained in Genoa, where he spent most of his career. Later in life, he traveled for long periods to Rome, Naples, and Venice, ending his career in Mantua at the court of Duke Carlo II Gonzaga. Castiglione was one of the most important Italian printmakers of the seventeenth century. His etchings cover diverse themes, including Greco-Roman mythology, as seen here. In this etching of a woodland clearing, figures have gathered around a sculpture representing the god Terminus, custodian of borders, for a festival.