José Luzán (1710 – 1785), also José Luzán y Martínez, was a Spanish

Baroque painter Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival,retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...

s Juan Luzán, Luzán married Teresa, daughter of John Zabalo, who was also a painter and designer of altarpieces. Thanks to the patronage of the Pignatelli family, Luzán studied in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, where he met the Italian Baroque master Giuseppe Mastroleo. He returned to Zaragoza around 1730 to establish an academy, which enjoyed great success. He was named reviewer of paintings by the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

and in 1741 was appointed by

Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724, and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign of 45 years is the longest in the history of the Spanish mon ...

as supernumerary painter of the Royal House. The study of the rich collections of the palace allowed him to considerably refine his style. Following on from the gloomy tone of his early works, he acquired a taste for warm coloring, dominating with the yellow, ochre and red in his palette, and lightened the burden of his brushstrokes. In the 1760s, he executed large works and bold compositions, which made clear his status as one of the most gifted eighteenth century painters of religious subjects. Luzán enjoyed much prestige as a teacher and author. Among his disciples were Francisco Bayeu y Subías, and

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

. Luzán left Madrid to direct the Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Zaragoza, if only briefly, as the institution went through severe financial difficulties and had to close. He managed to see it reopened in 1784, but his health would no longer allow him to teach. He died in his hometown shortly thereafter in 1785.

External links and references

* Lorente, Stephen, "The Chapel of San Marco and the Easter Memorial Cathedral of Saragossa", Journal of Research of the College of Logroño, t. II, 1976, p. 97-103.
Ramirez Family in the Great Aragon Encyclopedia (''Spanish'')
1705 births 1770 deaths 18th-century Spanish painters 18th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters People from Zaragoza {{Spain-painter-stub