Elia Castello

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Elias Castello, bust from 1608 on the tomb
Detail of the ceiling ascribed to Elia Castelli in the Gloriensaal of the new building (around 1602)

Elia Castello (also: Castelli) (* around 1577, probably in Melide on Lake Lugano ; † January 21, 1608 in Salzburg ) was an architect , sculptor , plasterer and mosaic artist .

life and work

Elia Castello was the son of the plasterer Quirico Castelli (around 1560-1632), and nephew of the sculptor and architect Matteo Castelli .

He was called to Salzburg by Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau and became the archbishop's court architect there in 1597. He was responsible for the architectural design of the Gabriel Chapel at the Sebastian cemetery as well as the ceramic and stucco interior of this mausoleum in the cemetery. The idea of ​​furnishing the chapel with colored glazed tiles probably came from the archbishop himself. The furnishing was the impetus for a new heyday of pottery in the city of Salzburg.

Castello also created colored stucco decorations for the state rooms of the city of Salzburg in the New Residence in Salzburg, for example in the Ständesaal (1602) and in the Piano nobile (other stucco work there fell victim to the bombs of the Second World War).

Tomb

Elia Castello was buried in a crypt in the Sebastian cemetery in Salzburg.

The Latin inscription and its translation reads:

"D (eo). O (ptimo) M (aximo)
Eliae Castello viro italo ex Oppidum Milli excellenti sculptori et operis mosyiaci vitae morumque candore ornatissimo immature e (x) vivis sublato frates euis moesti Antonius et Petrus Castelli hoc caritatis monumnentum fecerunt erexeruntque.
Obiit anno MDCII X. Cal. January Aetatis suae XXX m9 . Cuius Anima aeterna fruatur pace. "

“God, the best and greatest
Elia Castello, an Italian from the village of Milli, an outstanding sculptor and mosaic artisan, sincerely honored in life and character, who was recalled from life at an early age, have his grieving brothers Antonio and Petro made and erected this monument of appreciation here.
Died in the year 1602, on the 10th day of January, at the age of 30 years and 9 months. May his soul rejoice in peace. "

The bottom writing plate bears Latin lines of verse with the chronogram of the year of his death in 1602 :

E X P I RO I . STAT I S. EST. STR V .
XI SSE. PA L AT I A. TERR I S.
NON. T V A. MV N D E. BONA. EST.
VI TA. S V PERNA. BONA. EST.

(I DIED AFTER I BUILT ENOUGH
PALACES FOR THIS WORLD -
O WORLD, NOT YOUR LIFE IS GOOD,
ETERNAL LIFE IS GOOD.)

Picture gallery

  • Tomb of Elia Castello at the Sebastian Cemetery in Salzburg

  • Bust of Elia Castello, f (ecit) 1608

  • Tomb of Elia Castello, inscription (Latin)

literature

  • Margareta Rottensteiner: The work of the Castelli family for the Salzburg court under Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich and the importance of them in the state rooms of the new building . In: Gerhard Ammerer; Ingonda Hannesschläger (Ed.): Strategies of Power. Court and residence in Salzburg around 1600 - architecture, representation and administration under Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau 1587 to 1611/12. Salzburg 2011, pp. 404-436.
  • A. Haslinger and P. Mittermayr (eds.): Salzburger Kulturlexikon. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg 2002.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ (X + I + I + I + V + X + I + L + I + I + V + M + V + D + V + I + V = 1602).
  2. ↑ Conrad Dorn: The cemetery of St. Sebastian in Salzburg. Salzburg 1969, p. 25.
personal data
SURNAME Castello, Elia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian sculptor, plasterer and mosaic artist
DATE OF BIRTH around 1572
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Lake Lugano
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 1602
Place of death Salzburg