Antonio Ponce (c. 1608, Valladolid – November/December 1677, Madrid) was a Spanish

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

painter who specialized in

still-life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, boo ...

s and garlands.

Biography

He was the son of a servant in the household of

Juan de Zúñiga, 1st Duke of Peñaranda Juan de Zúñiga y Avellaneda, 1st Duke of Peñaranda de Duero (1551 – 4 September 1608) was a Spanish nobleman during the reigns of Philip II and Philip III. He was a Knight of the Military Order of Santiago, the 6th consort count, i ...

. When he was only one month old (presumably following the Duke's death), his family moved to Madrid. In 1624, when his father died, he became an apprentice in the workshop of Juan van der Hamen and remained there for three years. Upon completing his training, he married Francisca de Alfaro, Hamen's niece. In 1631, after Hamen's death, it is believed that, as a member of the family, he kept the workshop open and continued to paint in the same style, which has created difficulties with attribution although, after 1630, some of his works were signed. In 1633, he was among the painters whose workshops were raided by the government. Portraits of King

Philip IV Philip IV may refer to: * Philip IV of Macedon (died 297 BC) * Philip IV of France (1268–1314), Avignon Papacy * Philip IV of Burgundy or Philip I of Castile (1478–1506) * Philip IV, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (1542–1602) * Philip IV of Spain ...

and the Royal Family were confiscated so they could be examined by

Vicente Carducho Vincenzio Carduccio (in Spanish, sometimes ''Vicencio'' or Vicente Carducho; 1576 or 1578–1638) was an Italian painter who spent his career in Spain. Biography He was born in Florence, and was trained as a painter by his brother ...

and

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...

, to judge their quality and propriety. This resulted from complaints by local officials and members of the court that many painters possessed portraits which were ''no parecidos los más de ellos, y otros con hábitos indecentes'' (not like most of them and others with indecent habits). Apparently, nothing objectionable was found as, the following year, he became a member of the Painters' Guild. In 1637, documents indicate that he was working on ephemeral decorations for the arrival of the Princess of Carignano and, a year later, creating decorations at the

Palacio del Buen Retiro Buen Retiro Palace (Spanish: ''Palacio del Buen Retiro'') in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell (c. 1590–1660) and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recr ...

, together with Francisco Barrera. By 1642, business seems to have fallen off, as he requested an appointment as Inspector of Weights and Measures. He worked with Barrera again in 1649, making preparations for the visit of Queen Mariana of Austria. They were joined by the sculptor, and several gilders, who would produce ten golden figures of Kings and emperors. From then until his death, he is known only from the paintings he signed and a "Last Will and Testament", drawn up by him and his wife in 1657, although they were in good health and childless. A death certificate was issued in 1677. His wife survived him.

External links

Ponce, Antonio
in the "Enciclopedia online" @ the

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

"Pintores Vallisoletanos Olvidados: El bodegonista Antonio Ponce (1608-1677)"
@ ''Arte en Valladolid'' (blog).
More works by Ponce
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponce, Antonio 1600s births 1677 deaths Spanish painters 17th-century Spanish painters Spanish still life painters

Biography

Further reading

External links