Painter
Born in Avola, Sicily, the son of Mariano Cassarino and Antonina née Banbara.
His first marriage was to Masa Paola Marino which took place in his native Avola. By 1614, Giulio had become a widower, he settled in Malta and on 6 April he married Silvia Bezzina at the parish church of St Paul in Valletta. They had three children.
In 1617 Cassarino was appointed member of the household of Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt.
The existence of this painter was noticed by Dr John A. Cauchi*, who dedacted his signature on a painting representing St Sebastian tended by the Holy Women in the church of St John at Valletta. It is also claimed that it was Giuseppe Briffa* who first found the signature of Cassarino while restoring the altarpiece of St Mauro in the church of Ta’ Liesse at Valletta. According to Albert Ganado* and Antonio Espinosa Rodriguez only three paintings in Malta are known to carry his signature.
According to the said Cauchi, ‘Among Caravaggio’s followers in Malta, the most prolific was a mediocre painter who signed some of his works Cassarino. His artistic personality has been established by Dr Cauchi who has been able, on stylistic considerations, to attribute a respectable number of works to him’. Cauchi also suggested that Caravaggio might have engaged him as an assistant, and he was very much influenced by the Master’s new art. Cassarino also made copies after Caravaggio’s works which he marked with the anagram G.MF.D.C. for ‘Giulio Naro Felice Detto Cassarino’.
Cassarino’s most impressive surviving work is, the large canvas of The Beheading of St Catherine, at the Żejtun Parish Church Museum. Another work by Casarino is the altarpiece of the small church of St Paul, at St Paul’s Bay. It shows The Miracle of the Viper and includes a portrait of the Grand Master. Cauchi has also attributed to Cassarino a full length portrait of Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt in his famous gold and black armour which is now at the National Museum of Fine Arts at Valletta.
This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.