Zacarías González Velázquez (5 November 1763 – 31 January 1834) was a Spanish painter; known primarily for his portraits and religious works.

Biography

Velázquez was born in Madrid to a family of artists. His father was the painter

Antonio González Velázquez Antonio González Velázquez (1723–1793) was a Spanish late-Baroque painter. Biography Velázquez was born in Madrid into a family of artists; his father Pablo González Velázquez and brothers Alejandro González Velázquez, Alejandro and Lui ...

.Brief biography
@ 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 ...

. His grandfather Pablo and his uncles

Luis Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

and

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 ...

were all sculptors or painters. His brothers, Isidro and Cástor (1768-1822) also became painters. He began his training in 1777 at 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 his father was the Director, a position he would later hold himself. While there, he studied with

Mariano Salvador Maella Mariano Salvador Maella Pérez (21 August 1739 – 10 May 1819) was a Spanish painter known primarily for his portraits and religious frescoes. He was appointed chamber painter of King Charles IV of Spain in 1774 and became well known for his ...

. After his second year, he won first prize in the Second Class Paintings category. He graduated in 1782 and began to acquire commissions almost immediately. He decorated several rooms in the

Royal Palace of El Pardo The Royal Palace of El Pardo (, ) is one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family and one of the oldest, being used by the Spanish monarchs since Henry III of Castile in the 15th century. The palace is owned by the Spanish governme ...

, mostly with mythological scenes. He also worked as a designer at the

Royal Tapestry Factory The Royal Tapestry Factory (Spanish: ''Real Fábrica de Tapices de Santa Bárbara'') is a factory making tapestries in Madrid, Spain, which was founded in 1720 and is still in operation. History The factory was founded by Philip V after Spain l ...

and painted decorations at the

Jaén Cathedral The Cathedral of the Assumption (Spanish language, Spanish: ) is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of Jaén, Spain, Jaén, Spain. The current cathedral was conceived in the 16th century to replace a previous 15th century Gothic arc ...

Toledo Cathedral The Primatial Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Toledo, Spain. It is the seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Toledo. Since 1088, it holds the honorific title of Primatial, granted by ...

and the Oratory of the Caballero de Gracia in Madrid. He received another degree at the Academy in 1790 and, three years later, was appointed an assistant professor there; a position he held until 1807. At that time, he was promoted to Deputy Director of Painting. This came at a difficult time, as the country was embroiled in the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

and cultural life came to a virtual standstill. Things improved greatly with the accession of

Ferdinand VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

to the throne. Eventually, he rose to the position of Director of the Academy in 1828; a position he held until 1831. He died in Madrid, aged 69.

Selected paintings

File:Retrato de Fernando VII (Zacarías González Vázquez).jpg, Portrait of Ferdinand VII (1814) File:María Luisa de Parma, reina consorte de España, por Zacarías González Velázquez (Museo de Historia de Madrid).jpg, Portrait of

Maria Luisa of Parma Maria Luisa of Parma (Luisa Maria Teresa Anna; 9 December 1751 – 2 January 1819) was, by marriage to King Charles IV of Spain, Queen of Spain from 1788 to 1808 leading up to the Peninsular War. Her relationship with Manuel Godoy and influence o ...

(1789) File:González Velázquez, Zacarías - The miracle of Saint Casilda - c. 1820.jpg, The Miracle of Saint Casilda (c. 1820) González Velázquez, Zacarías - Manuela González Velázquez, playing the piano - Google Art Project.jpg, Manuela González Velázquez playing the piano (c. 1820)

References

Scholarly articles
in English about Zacarías González Velázquez both in web an
PDF
@ th
Spanish Old Masters Gallery

External links

ArtNet: More works by González Velázquez.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez Velazquez, Zacarias 1763 births 1834 deaths 18th-century Spanish painters 18th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Painters from Madrid 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni Spanish portrait painters Religious artists Spanish art directors