Luis González Velázquez (25 August 1715 – 24 May 1763) was a Spanish late-

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

painter. Velázquez was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

into a family of artists; his father

Pablo González Velázquez Pablo González Velázquez (1664–1727) was a Spanish Baroque sculptor. According to the art historian Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez, who is the provider of all known biographical details, Velázquez was born in Jaén and was the head of a f ...

and brothers

Alejandro Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander ( Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros ( Greek), Alsander ( Irish), Alessandro ( Italian), Aleksand ...

and

Antonio Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top ...

were all painters. He studied painting at the School Board for the establishment of 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 ...

where he was elected academician of merit in 1753 and deputy director of painting a year later. Between 1741 and 1742 he worked in

La Puebla de Montalbán La Puebla de Montalbán is a Spanish town and municipality in the province of Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. History The settlement may have developed upon the extinction of the Templar commandery of Montalbán a ...

, (

Province of Toledo Toledo () is a Province (Spain), province of central Spain, in the western part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid Province, Madrid, Cuenca Province (Spai ...

), where he executed the murals in the chapel of Our Lady of Solitude, including a series of biblical heroines, which manifests emphatically a

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style. Since 1744, he collaborated with Santiago Bonavía in the decorations of the theater of

Buen Retiro Park The Retiro Park (Spanish: , literally "Good Retreat Park"), also known as Buen Retiro Park or simply El Retiro, is one of the largest Urban park, city parks in Madrid, Spain. The park belonged to the Spanish monarchy until 1868, when it became a ...

. In April 1758

Corrado Giaquinto Corrado Giaquinto (8 February 1703 – 18 April 1766) was an Italian Rococo painter. Early training and move to Rome He was born in Molfetta. As a boy he apprenticed with a modest local painter Saverio Porta, (c. 1667–1725), escaping the r ...

stated in a memorial that Velázquez had worked under him in the decoration of the Royal Salesians. The same year he was appointed court painter, with a staff of 9,000 reales per year, although the small number of works made for the King suggests that the title was mostly honorary. Velázquez and his wife Luisa had at least one daughter. He died in Madrid on 24 May 1763.

Sources

* Cean Bermudez, John Augustine, Historical Dictionary of the most distinguished teachers of the Fine Arts in Spain, Madrid, 1800, vol. 2, p. 226. * Pastor Gutierrez, Ismael, "Portrait of Luis Gonzalez Velazquez ', Yearbook of the Department of History and Theory of Art, No. 1, 1989, p. 139-146.
Scholarly articles
in English about Luis González Velázquez @ th
Spanish Old Masters Gallery

External links

1715 births 1763 deaths 18th-century Spanish painters 18th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Spanish Baroque painters Painters from Madrid {{Spain-painter-stub