375px, The Painter's Studio José del Castillo (14 October 1737,

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 ...

- 5 October 1793, Madrid) was a Spanish painter and engraver in the Neoclassical style. Many of his paintings were done for

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art which was traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to han ...

Life and work

At the age of ten, he became an assistant in the preparatory drawing classes at the

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the centre of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal aca ...

. He showed so much promise that, in 1751, the Secretary of State,

José de Carvajal y Lancaster José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

, personally provided him with the funds to go to Rome and study under the direction of

Corrado Giaquinto Corrado Giaquinto (8 February 1703 – 18 April 1766) was an Italian Rococo painter. Early training and move to Rome He was born in Molfetta. As a boy he apprenticed with a modest local painter Saverio Porta, (c. 1667–1725), escaping the r ...

. In 1753, when Giaquinto was called to Spain by King

Ferdinand VI Ferdinand VI (; 23 September 1713 – 10 August 1759), called the Learned (''el Prudente'') and the Just (''el Justo''), was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death in 1759. He was the third ruler of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. He was the ...

, Castillo returned with him and returned to the Academia, where he won a gold medal in 1756. Two years later, he received an official stipend to continue his studies in Rome, where he was married. After completing his studies, he went back to Madrid, travelling through Italy in the company of

Juan de Villanueva Juan de Villanueva (September 15, 1739 in Madrid – August 22, 1811) was a Spanish architect. Alongside Ventura Rodríguez, Villanueva is the best known architect of Spanish Neoclassicism. Biography His father was the sculptor Juan de Villa ...

. He arrived there in 1764. He immediately joined the

Royal Tapestry Factory The Royal Tapestry Factory (Spanish: ''Real Fábrica de Tapices de Santa Bárbara'') is a factory making tapestries in Madrid, Spain, which was founded in 1720 and is still in operation. History The factory was founded by Philip V after Spain l ...

; painting the designs and "cartones" (cartoons), under the stylistic direction of

Anton Raphael Mengs Anton Raphael Mengs (12 March 1728 – 29 June 1779) was a German Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter. Early life Mengs was born on 12 March 1728, at Ústí nad Labem in the Kingdom of Bohemia, the son of Ismael Mengs, a Danish-born painter wh ...

. This would become his primary occupation. He originally copied works by other artists, such as

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Early l ...

and his mentor, Giaquinto, but later created his own, based on scenes from daily life. He did execute an occasional religious painting, such as a depiction of

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic, (; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilians, Castilian Catholic priest and the founder of the Dominican Order. He is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, and he a ...

and

Saint Francis St. Francis or Saint Francis may refer to: Roman Catholic saints *Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), Italian founder of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) *Francis of Paola (1416–1507), Italian (Calabrian) founder of the Order of the Minims * ...

embracing (1783), which is at the

Basilica of San Francisco el Grande, Madrid The Royal Basilica of Saint Francis the Great () is a Roman Catholic church in central Madrid, Spain, located in the neighborhood of Palacio. The main façade faces the Plaza of San Francisco, at the intersection of Bailén, the Gran Vía de San ...

. He also did some book illustrations: notably drawings for the 1780 edition of ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'', which were engraved by Manuel Salvador Carmona and Fernando Selma. In 1785, he was named an Academician of Merit at the Academia, but failed in his efforts to become a "Painter to the King". He also sought to become Director of the tapestry factory, with the support of Count Floridablanca, but was opposed by the painter

Ramón Bayeu Ramón Bayeu y Subías (2 December 1744, Zaragoza – 1 March 1793, Aranjuez) was a Spanish Neoclassicist painter; known primarily for his work in tapestry design. Biography His father made surgical instruments and barbers' tools. He was the bro ...

, who had the support of Count Aranda, a court favorite. Shortly after Bayeu's death (and not long before his own), he tried again, with recommendations from several artists, but was still unsuccessful and the post was left vacant.José Delamano, ''José del Castillo'', Madrid Art Gallery
Online
/ref> He also did restorative work at the

Palacio del Buen Retiro Buen Retiro Palace (Spanish: ''Palacio del Buen Retiro'') in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect (c. 1590–1660) and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recreation (hence its ...

. Many of his sketches and engravings document works by other artists which have since been lost.

References

External links

Scholarly articles
in English about José del Castillo both in web an
PDF
@ th
Spanish Old Masters Gallery

Castillo, José
in the Enciclopedia online @ the

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

Digitalized works
in the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica @ the

Biblioteca Nacional de España The (National Library of Spain) is the national library of Spain. It is the largest public library in the country, and one of the largest in the world. Founded in 1711, it is an autonomous agency attached to the Ministry of Culture since 1 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:del Castillo, Jose 1737 births 1793 deaths 18th-century Spanish painters 18th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando alumni

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links