Gaspar Becerra (1520–1568) was a Spanish painter and sculptor of the School of Valladolid.
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Biography

He was born at Baeza in the Province of Jaén. He went to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1545, and studied with

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

, whom he assisted in painting the hall of the

Palazzo della Cancelleria The Palazzo della Cancelleria (Palace of the Chancellery, referring to the former Apostolic Chancery of the Pope) is a Renaissance palace in Rome, Italy, situated between the present Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Campo de' Fiori, in the rion ...

. He worked with

Daniele da Volterra Daniele Ricciarelli (; 15094 April 1566), better known as Daniele da Volterra (, ), was a Mannerism, Mannerist List of Italian painters, Italian painter and sculpture, sculptor. He is best remembered for his association with Michelangelo. Sev ...

on the

Trinità dei Monti The Church of Santissima Trinità dei Monti, often called simply Trinità dei Monti (French: ''La Trinité-des-Monts''), is a Roman Catholic late Renaissance titular church, part of a monastery complex in Rome. It is best known for its positio ...

church, where, in 1555, he painted a ‘Nativity’. He also contributed to the anatomical plates of Juan Valverde de Amusco's ''Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano'' (Rome, 1556). In 1551 Prince Philip of Spain donated funds to commission Becerra to provide a gold tabernacle for

San Giacomo degli Spagnoli Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore (, also known as San Giacomo degli Spagnoli and in Spanish, Santiago de los Españoles) is a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary located in Rome's Piazza Navona. History An earlier church, San Giacomo de ...

, the Spanish national church in Rome. This tabernacle may have later been melted down to fashion a new Baroque tabernacle, stolen in 1741. In 1556 Becerra married Doňa Paula Velasquez and returned to Spain and settled in Zaragoza for a time. He was extensively employed by Philip II, and decorated many of the rooms in the palace at

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 ...

with

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es. A ceiling fresco 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 ...

displays the "Exploits of Perseus". He also painted altar-pieces for several of the churches, most of which have been destroyed. In 1562 he completed the main

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum, it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate struct ...

for the altar of the

Convent of Las Descalzas Reales The Convent of Las Descalzas Reales () is a royal monastery situated in Madrid, Spain, administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. History The ''Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales'', literally the "Monastery of the Royal Discalced", resides in ...

, which was considered his master work. Unfortunately, this was destroyed by fire in 1862. His fame as a sculptor almost surpassed that as a painter. One of his best works was a magnificent figure of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, which was destroyed during the French war. He was also commissioned by

Elisabeth of Valois Elisabeth of France, or Elisabeth of Valois (; ; 2 April 1546 – 3 October 1568), was Queen of Spain as the third wife of Philip II of Spain. She was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. Early life Elisabeth was ...

for a statue of

Our Lady of Solitude Our Lady of Solitude (; ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus and a special form of Marian devotion practised in Spanish-speaking countries to commemorate the solitude of Mary on Holy Saturday. Variant names include ''Nuestra Señora de la Sol ...

at the Order of the Minims' chapel of the convent of Our Lady of Victory. The high altar of

Astorga Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Mary (Spanish: ''Catedral de Santa María'') is a Roman Catholic church architecture, church in Astorga, Spain, Astorga, Spain. It was declared a national monument in 1931. The gothic edifice was begun in 1471, within the s ...

(1558) is considered a masterwork of Spanish Renaissance sculpture. He became court painter at

around 1563, and played a prominent part in the establishment of the fine arts in Spain. Among his pupils were Miguel Barroso, who worked at Toledo in 1585, and, after becoming royal painter in 1589, painted some frescoes in the El Escorial; Bartolomé del Río Bernuís; Francisco López and

Jerónimo Vázquez Jerónimo (European Portuguese and Spanish) or Jerônimo (Brazilian Portuguese) may refer to: * Jerónimo (name), a given or surname, Jerome in English ** Jeronimo (singer) (born 1990), Dutch pop singer and actor ** Jerônimo, a Brazilian indigen ...

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...

wrote a poem, "Gaspar Becerra", included in his 1850 collection ''The Seaside and the Fireside''."Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", Maine Historical Society
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References

External links

Anatomical drawings by Becerra
from the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Historical Anatomies on the Web. US National Library of Medicine.
Selected pages scanned from Juan Valverde de Amusco's ''Anatomia del corpo humano''. (Rome, 1560). {{DEFAULTSORT:Becerra, Gaspar 1520 births 1570 deaths People from Baeza 16th-century Spanish painters Spanish male painters 16th-century Spanish sculptors Spanish male sculptors Italian engravers Renaissance sculptors Catholic sculptors