Francisco Javier Sánchez Cantón (1891–1971) was a Spanish

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, who from 1960 to 1968 was Director of the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

Life

Born in

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

Galicia (Spain) Galicia ( ; or ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain and nationalities and regions of Spain, historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces o ...

, on 14 July 1891, in 1913 he obtained a doctorate from the Central University, Madrid, with a thesis on ''Los pintores de cámara de los reyes de España'' (published in 1916). He started work at the Museo del Prado the same year. He was also attached to the Centro de Estudios Históricos (now Instituto Diego Velázquez of the

Spanish National Research Council The Spanish National Research Council (, CSIC) is the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe. Its main objective is to develop and promote research that will help bring about scientific and techn ...

), and was for some years the editor-in-chief of the journal '' Archivo Español de Arte''. In 1929 he curated an exhibition of the work of

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (12 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter. Early life Mengs was born on 12 March 1728, at Ústí nad Labem in the Kingdom of Bohemia, the son of Ismael Mengs, a Danish-born painter wh ...

at the Prado. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

he was active in conserving the Prado's collections. In 1943 he became director of the Instituto Padre Sarmiento de Estudios Gallegos and editor-in-chief of its journal, '' Cuadernos de Estudios Gallegos''. In the same year, he was appointed to the chair of General Art History at the University of Madrid, going on to serve as vice-rector of the university from 1950 to 1958. He was elected to the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

in 1925, the

Real Academia de la Historia The Royal Academy of History (, RAH) is a Spanish institution in Madrid that studies history "ancient and modern, political, civil, ecclesiastical, military, scientific, of letters and arts, that is to say, the different branches of life, of c ...

in 1934, and the

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy (, ; ) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with national language academies in 22 other Hispanopho ...

in 1949. In 1956 he became director of the second, and in 1966 director of the first. In 1960 he was appointed Director of the Prado Museum, and at his retirement in 1968 he was appointed honorary director. He died on 27 November 1971.

Works

*with

Elías Tormo Elías Tormo y Monzó (1869–1957) was a Spanish art historian. Life Tormo was born in Albaida (Valencia), on 23 June 1869. He studied Law in Valencia and Arts in Madrid, becoming a professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela. In 190 ...

, ''Los tapices de la Casa del Rey'' (1919) *with Juan Allende-Salazar Zaragoza, ''Retratos del Museo del Prado. Identificación y rectificaciones'' (Madrid, 1919) *''Fuentes literarias para la historia del arte español'' (5 volumes, 1923–1941) *''Guías del Museo del Prado. I. Salas de pintura francesa'' (Madrid, 1925) *with Félix Boix, ''Goya. I. Cien dibujos inéditos'' (1928) *''Guías del Museo del Prado. II. De los dibujos de Goya'' (1928) *''Antonio Rafael Mengs. 1728-1779. Noticia de su vida y de sus obras'', exhibition catalogue (1929) *"The new Goyas at the Prado Museum. The Fernández Durán Bequest", ''Parnasus'' (New York, 1931) *"Les premières mesures de défense du Prado au cours de la guerre civile en Espagne", ''Mouseio'' (Paris, 1937) *''De Barnabá de Módena a Francisco de Goya. Exposición de pinturas de los siglos XIV al XIX recuperadas por España'' (Madrid, 1939) *"The Prado Museum from July 18, 1936 to March 28, 1939", ''Spain'', nos. 89-90 (June 1939) *''Museo del Prado: Goya. II. 84 dibujos inéditos y no coleccionados'' (1941) *"El donativo Cambó al Museo del Prado", ''Arte Español'' (1942) *''Velázquez. Las meninas y sus personajes'' (1943) *"Los aumentos del Museo del Prado en un quinquenio", ''Revista de las Artes y Oficios'' (Madrid, 1944) *with

: ''Pintura, escultura y arquitectura en España'' (Madrid, 1949) *''El Museo del Prado. Cuadros, estatuas, dibujos y alhajas'' (Madrid, 1949) *"El Museo del Prado: noticia histórica. Escuelas italianas. América en el Prado", ''Mundo Hispánico'', no. 13 (1949) *''Desarrollo del Museo del Prado'' (Barcelona, 1950) *''Itinerario del Museo del Prado'' (Madrid, 1952) *"Las adquisiciones del Museo del Prado, 1952-1953", ''Archivo Español de Arte'' (1954) *"Las adquisiciones del Museo del Prado, 1954-1955", ''Archivo Español de Arte'' (1956) *''Guía completa del Museo del Prado'' (Madrid, 1958) *"Retratos ingleses en el Museo del Prado", ''Goya'' (1958) *"Seis fragmentos de la decoración mural de San Baudelio de Berlanga en el Prado", ''Celtiberia'' (1959) *''Trésors de la peinture au Prado'' (París, 1959) *''El Museo del Prado'' (Santander, Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, 1961) *''The Prado'', " The World of Art Library" series (London, Thames and Hudson, 1961) *"Adquisiciones del Museo del Prado 1956-1962", ''Archivo Español de Arte'' (1962) *"El Museo del Prado. Reformas y adquisiciones. 1960-1962", ''Goya'' (1962) *''Tesoros de la pintura en el Prado'' (Madrid, ed. Daimond, 1962) *''Guía completa del Museo del Prado'' (Madrid, ed. Peninsular, 1963) *with Alexandre Cirici-Pellicer: ''Treasures of Spain I: From Altamira to the Catholic Kings''(Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, 1967, 249 p.) *with Alexandre Cirici-Pellicer:''Treasures of Spain II: From Charles V to Goya'' (Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, 1965, 236 p.) *''Goya: la Quinta del Sordo'', Forma e colore 30, 1965 *''Escritos sobre Velázquez'' (2000), posthumously collected.

Awards

In 1951 he received the

Civil Order of Alfonso X, the Wise The Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise () is a Spanish civil order established in 1939, recognising activities in the fields of education, science, culture, higher education and research. The order was created on 23 May 1902 by Royal decree as t ...

(Grand Cross). He also received the Argentinian

Order of May Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

and the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez Canton, Francisco Javier 1891 births 1971 deaths People from Pontevedra Spanish art historians Complutense University of Madrid alumni Directors of the Museo del Prado Members of the Royal Spanish Academy

Life

Works

Awards

See also

References