Alonso Sanchez Coello

1531 – 1588

Painter who was one of the pioneers of the great tradition of Spanish portrait painting. The favourite portrait painter of King Philip II, he introduced into Spanish portraiture a specifically Spanish character that endured until Velázquez came to the court in the 1620s. After spending his childhood in Portugal, he was sent by the Portuguese king John III to study under Anthonis Mor (Anthony More) in Flanders. Returning to Portugal in 1550, he served as a court painter to John. In 1555 he moved to the Spanish court of Philip II, having been recommended by the widow of John III, Juana, who was the sister of the Spanish king. He spent the remainder of his life at the court, becoming a personal favourite of the king and acquiring honours and wealth. Sánchez Coello produced both portraits and religious paintings. The religious works, many of which were created for El Escorial, are conventional and undistinguished. It is for his portraits that he is remembered. They are marked by an ease of pose and execution, a dignity and sobriety of representation, and a warmth of colouring. Although influenced by the paintings of both Mor and Titian, these portraits display an original talent and reflect admirably the modesty and formality of the Spanish court. Paintings of Philip II (c. 1580) and Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia (1571), both in the Prado, Madrid, are two of his finest works.

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