Giovanni Benedetto, a celebrated painter, was born at Genoa in 1616. He painted portraits, historical pieces, landscapes, and castles, in the last of which he is said chiefly to have excelled; as also in fairs, markets, and all kinds of rural scenes. By this master we have also a great number of etchings, which are all spirited, free, and full of taste. His son, Francesco, was bred under himself, and excelled in the same subjects; and it is thought that many good paintings which are ascribed to Benedetto, and are frequently seen at sales, or in modern collections, are copies after him by his son Francesco, or perhaps originals of the younger Castiglione.