(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 | Konig Philipp IV | Infantin Anna (1601-1666), Konigin von Frankreich, Bildnis in ganzer Figur mit einem Lowenaffchen | Portrait of Anna of Austria | third wife of Philip II |
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Arturo Ferrari
(Milan, 1861 - 1932) was an Italian painter. Initiated into artistic studies by his father Cesare, an associate of Luigi Scrosati, and the painter Mose Bianchi from Lodi, Arturo Ferrari completed his training at the Brera Academy under the guidance of Giuseppe Bertini from 1877 to 1884 while working in the studio of Gerolamo Induno at the same time. He made his debut at the Esposizione di Belle Arti di Brera in 1879 with a view of the interior of Milan Cathedral, thus inaugurating the repertoire of Milanese perspective views that was to be a constant feature of his vast production of oil paintings and watercolours. He soon became the guiding spirit of a poetic and sentimental evocation of "Old Milan" during the phase of transition to the 20th century, when the face of the city changed radically through wholesale rebuilding. A regular participant in all the major exhibitions until 1932, the year of his death, he was the recipient of numerous marks of official recognition and enjoyed considerable success with the public as well as the esteem of conservative critics.
AST, Balthasar van der
Dutch Baroque Era Painter, ca.1593-1656 1657). Dutch painter. He was the brother-in-law of Ambrosius Bosschaert (i), whose household he entered in 1609, after the death of his father. He remained as Bosschaert's pupil, until he was 21. In 1615 van der Ast moved with the Bosschaert family to Bergen-op-Zoom. However, a year later the Bosschaerts were living in Utrecht, but van der Ast is not recorded there until 1619, when he was entered as a master in the Guild of St Luke. He remained in Utrecht until 1632, then lived in Delft, where he enrolled in the painters' guild on 22 June 1632. On 26 February 1633 he married Margrieta Jans van Bueren in Delft, where he spent the rest of his career; the marriage produced two children.
Andrea della Verrocchio
1435-1488 Italian Andrea della Verrocchio Gallery