Bartolomé González Y Serrano

1564 – 1627

Spanish painter. He spent his early years in Valladolid and Madrid. According to Palomino, he was trained with Patricio Cajés, but also important was the influence of Italian Mannerism at the court (1600-06) of Philip III in Valladolid. Knowledge of naturalistic works by such Italians as Orazio Borgianni, with their monumental forms and chiaroscuro, also determined González's style, especially as a religious painter. González is first documented in 1606, after which he worked for the court in Burgos, Lerma, El Pardo and El Escorial. In 1608 he witnessed the will of the court portraitist, Pantoja de la Cruz, who died that year. González succeeded Pantoja de la Cruz in the completion of the royal portaits for the gallery of the palace of El Pardo, which replaced those destroyed by fire in 1604. One of his earliest known portraits is that of Margaret of Austria (1609; Madrid, Prado), which shows the influence of Pantoja de la Cruz.

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