(b Naples, 1716; d Madrid, 11 July 1780). Spanish painter, active in Madrid. He painted various subjects, but from the 1760s he specialized in still life and is regarded as the finest Spanish painter in this field in the 18th century (he is sometimes called ‘the Spanish Chardin’). However, he spent much of his life in poverty. His work is rare outside Spain, but there are examples of his still lifes in London (NG) and York (City AG), and there is a striking self-portrait of 1746 in the Louvre, Paris. Several other members of his family were painters, including two sisters.

Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)


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