(Valladolid, 1553 - 26 October 1608, Madrid) Spanish painter, one of the best representatives of the Spanish school of court painters. He worked for Philip II and Philip III. The Museo del Prado contains examples of his severe portraiture style. Juan Pantoja de La Cruz was, born 1553 in Valladolid. Very little is known of his formative years as a painter. He was a pupil of the court painter Alonso Senchez Coello in Madrid and he must have assisted his master in complying with his duties as painter of the Spanish King, Philip II. Pantoja probably continued to work in his master studio after completing his training. He married in 1585 beginning to paint for the court around that time. After Sanchez Coello's death in 1588, Pantoja took over his master workshop and became court painter to Philip II of Spain. Pantoja kept working for the court and the nobility, painting portraits of Prince Philip, the future Philip III, in 1592 and 1594. Among his most well known works is the portrait of Philip II wearing a cape and hat all in black, painted around 1594 for the Escorial. This portrait is one of the best representations of the idea of Spanish majesty, based on the remoteness of the monarch. On Philip II's death in 1598, Philip III confirmed Pantoja's status as court painter. When the court settled in Valladolid in 1601, Pantoja moved to the new capital, remaining in this city, several years.  Related Paintings of Juan Pantoja de la Cruz :. | Portrait of Margarita de Austria | Portrait of a woman | third wife of Philip II | Queen Elizabeth of Valois | Portrait of Margarita de Austria |
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John Raphael Smith
English Painter, 1752-1812,English printmaker, publisher and painter. The youngest son of the landscape artist Thomas Smith of Derby (d Bristol, 12 Sept 1767), he was apprenticed to a linen draper at the age of ten and around 1767 became a linen draper's assistant in London. He seems to have taught himself to paint miniatures and produced his first mezzotint in 1769, from Henry Benbridge's portrait of General Pascal Paoli (San Francisco, CA Pal. Legion of Honor). Smith married and opened a draper's shop in Exeter Exchange; about 1773 he began to engrave professionally and sold prints from the same shop.
GRIMMER, Abel
Flemish Baroque Era Painter, ca.1570-C.1619 Son of Jacob Grimmer. He married Catharina Lescornet on 29 September 1591 and in 1592 became a master in the Antwerp Guild of St Luke. He is principally known for his numerous small paintings of country scenes, sometimes with a biblical theme, which often form part of a series of the Four Seasons or the Months of the Year. Some of these paintings were inspired by or even copied from prints by Pieter Bruegel I and Hans Bol, both of whose work strongly influenced Abel, even more so than did the example of his father's work, which was also an important source of inspiration. Abel's series of the Twelve Months (1592; Montfaucon-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Chapelle Notre-Dame) are exact copies of Adriaen Collaert's prints after Hans Bol (Hollstein: Dut. & Flem., iv, nos 523-34), published by Hans van Luyck ( fl c. 1580-85) in 1585. Spring and Summer (Antwerp, Kon. Mus. S. Kst.) are almost exact copies of two prints by Pieter van der Heyden
Plamondon, Antoine Sebastien
1841 Oil on canvas National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.