During the 1650s Castiglione became one of the busiest artists in Genoa, though he continued to be plagued by legal affairs, including the jailing of his brother and collaborator, Salvatore, for assault. But his commercial success seems not to have assuaged his yearning for truly noble patronage. Castiglione had reportedly been befriended by Carlo II Gonzaga, 9th Duke of Mantua, while in Rome the previous decade, and from 1659 until his death five years later, he divided his time between Genoa and Mantua. Giovanni Benedetto and Salvatore executed paintings for the Gonzaga and acted as the Duke’s agents in Genoa, negotiating the purchase of pictures and of exotic birds, fruits and spices.

In these last years Castiglione’s oil drawings change in character. They become more colourful, but smaller and denser, perhaps a result of arthritis that was increasingly to restrict his freedom of movement. The outlines are drier and broken, the figures blockier and more doll-like. But Castiglione’s diminished range of expression was still turned to strongly expressive purpose, and his creative capacities remained undimmed.