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Lot Essay
Palomino was educated in philosophy, theology and law in Cordoba, whilst also studying drawing and painting with Juan de Valdés Leal, who visited the city in 1672, and with Juan de Alfaro y Gámez with whom he came into contact in 1675 and 1678. It was on Gámez's recommendation that Palomino moved to Madrid in 1678 so that he could advance his skills as a painter. Once there he was introduced to the circle of artists active at the court of Charles II, and through Claudio Coello came to the notice of the Emperor who named him an honorary royal painter and elevated him to the full paid position a decade later. In addition to his works on canvas, from about 1690 he received important commissions to paint frescoes in Madrid, and with the arrival in 1692 of the Neapolitan painter, Luca Giordano, he successfully synthesized the more conventional style of his Cordoban and Madrid training with the more dramatic Neapolitan influences he gained through this contact.
His many paintings on canvas were mostly commissions from religious orders, including several fine versions of The Immaculate Conception, one of which had entered the collection of the Museo del Prado (Inv. no. 521) by 1854. His early paintings, of which this is one, reflect the pictorial traditions of Juan Carreno de Miranda and Claudio Coello. It was with Coello that he collaborated on his earliest known composition, the decoration of the ceiling of the Galleria del Cierzo in Alcazar in Madrid in 1686.
It is evident from his writing that Palomino greatly respected and admired many of the artists active in Spain during his lifetime. Today it is not as a painter that he is best known but for his three volume treatise on art theory El Museo pictorico y escala optica (1715-1724) which included an entire volume of biographies of Spanish and foreign artists active in Spain in the 17th century, El Parnasoespanol pintoresco laureado. This led to him being called the Spanish Vasari. Much of the information recorded therein, which was partially translated into English in 1739, is still referred to by scholars today.
We are grateful to Professor Enrico Valdivieso for dating the present work from a photograph, to circa 1680, noting that this represents a hitherto unknown treatment of this composition executed shortly after Palomino arrived in Madrid.
His many paintings on canvas were mostly commissions from religious orders, including several fine versions of The Immaculate Conception, one of which had entered the collection of the Museo del Prado (Inv. no. 521) by 1854. His early paintings, of which this is one, reflect the pictorial traditions of Juan Carreno de Miranda and Claudio Coello. It was with Coello that he collaborated on his earliest known composition, the decoration of the ceiling of the Galleria del Cierzo in Alcazar in Madrid in 1686.
It is evident from his writing that Palomino greatly respected and admired many of the artists active in Spain during his lifetime. Today it is not as a painter that he is best known but for his three volume treatise on art theory El Museo pictorico y escala optica (1715-1724) which included an entire volume of biographies of Spanish and foreign artists active in Spain in the 17th century, El Parnasoespanol pintoresco laureado. This led to him being called the Spanish Vasari. Much of the information recorded therein, which was partially translated into English in 1739, is still referred to by scholars today.
We are grateful to Professor Enrico Valdivieso for dating the present work from a photograph, to circa 1680, noting that this represents a hitherto unknown treatment of this composition executed shortly after Palomino arrived in Madrid.