Francisco Pérez del Río (bap. 3 November 1564 – 27 November 1644), known by his pseudonym Francisco Pacheco, was a Spanish painter, best known as the teacher of Alonso Cano and

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...

, as well as the latter's father-in-law. His textbook on painting, entitled ''Art of Painting'', published posthumously, is an important source for the study of 17th-century practice in Spain. He is described by some as the " Vasari of Seville": vocal and didactic about his theories of painting and thoughts about painters, conventional and uninspired in his executions.

Early life

He was born at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, son of Juan Pérez and Leonor del Río, and moved to

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

shortly before 1580, adopting the name of his uncle, Francisco Pacheco, the Dean of Seville Cathedral. As a student of Luis Fernández, he did much of his learning by copying works of the Italian masters. He married María del Páramo in 1594.. Valdivieso González, Enrique
"Francisco Pérez del Río". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico'' (''DB~e'').
Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 6 January 2025. The couple had one daughter, Juana Pacheco (1 June 1602 – 10 August 1660).

Career

In 1559 he commenced work on his ''Libro de los retratos''. His first known painting is from 1589, ''Cristo con la Cruz a cuestas'', which belonged to the Ybarra collection in Seville, although its current whereabouts is unknown. The following year he painted ''La Virgen de Belén'', conserved in Granada Cathedral, and which is an exact copy of Marcellus Coffermans' original. From around 1594, together with Alonso Vázquez, with whom he collaborated, Pacheco was one of the most sought-after painters in Seville, until the arrival of Juan de Roelas in 1604. In 1610, he visited

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 ...

, where he met Vicente Carducho and Toledo, where he met El Greco. On his return to Seville, his art school took on as a student a 12-year-old

, who was a student in Pacheco's school for six years, and married Pacheco's daughter Juana on 23 April 1618. In 1616, when Velázquez was about to finish his studies, Alonso Cano started studying with Pacheco.. Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E.br>"Alonso Cano". ''Diccionario Biográfico electrónico'' (''DB~e'').
Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 6 January 2025. Pacheco's school emphasized the academically correct representation of religious subjects, not least because he was the official censor of Seville's Inquisition. His own work reflects those constraints; paintings such as the ''Last Judgment'' (convent of Santa Isabel) and ''Martyrs of Granada'' are monumental in scale but unimaginative in treatment. In 1630, he started work on ''Arte de la pintura'', finishing it in 1641. It was published posthumously in 1649.

Gallery

File:Francisco Pacheco-Mercedarians Ransoming Christian captives.jpg, ''Mercedarians Ransoming Christian Captives'' (1600) File:Francisco Pacheco-Last Communion of Raymond Nonnatus.jpg, ''Last Communion of St. Raymond Nonnatus'' (1611) (Castres) Le Jugement dernier - Francisco Pacheco - Musée Goya.jpg, ''The Last Judgment'' (1614), Goya Museum. (Castres) Le Christ servi par les anges dans le désert - Francisco Pacheco - Musée Goya.jpg, '' Christ served by angels in the desert'' (1616) File:FranciscoPacheco.jpg, ''Mystic Marriage of Saint Agnes'' (1628) File:El sueño de San José, de Francisco Pacheco (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando).jpg, ''Dream of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

'' (circa 1617 – 1620) File:Santa Catalina, Francisco Pacheco.jpg, Santa Catalina ( Saint Katherine) File:Santa Inés, Francisco Pacheco.jpg, Santa Inés (Saint Agnes) File:San Juan Evangelista, por Francisco Pacheco.jpg, San Juan Evangelista ( Saint John the Evangelist) File:San Jerónimo, de Francisco Pacheco (Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla).jpg, San Jerónimo ( Saint Geronimo) File:San Benito Abad, de Francisco Pacheco (Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla).jpg, San Benito Abad ( Saint Benedict Abbot) File:San Luis, rey de Francia, de Francisco Pacheco (Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla).jpg, San Luis, rey de Francia ( Saint Louis, King of France) File:Retrato de la esposa de Miguel Jerónimo y su hija, Francisco Pacheco.jpg, Portrait of Miguel Jerónimo's wife and his daughter File:Pacheco, Santa Justa.jpg, Santa Justa ( Saint Justa) File:Francisco Pacheco, Santa Rufina.jpg, Santa Rufina ( Saint Rufina)

References

* Priscilla E. Muller, ''Francisco Pacheco: His development as a painter''. Hispanic Society of America.

External links

''Libro de descripción de verdaderos retratos de ilustres y memorables varones''.
''Biblioteca Digital''. Real Academia Española.
Work of the month. Francisco Pacheco. Ducal House of Medinaceli Foundation''Velázquez ''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Pacheco (see index)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacheco, Francisco 1564 births 1644 deaths Spanish Roman Catholics 16th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters 17th-century Spanish painters Painters from Seville Spanish Inquisition People from Sanlúcar de Barrameda