Works by Alonso Cano
36 works · 130 ms
Alonso Cano painted, carved and designed buildings; painter to Philip IV, he was made a canon of Granada Cathedral in 1652 to serve as its chief architect, and later designed its façade.
His father, Miguel Cano, taught him architecture; Juan del Castillo and Francisco Pacheco, Velázquez's teacher, taught him painting; Juan Martínez Montañés taught him sculpture. When a priest held a crucifix out to him on his deathbed, Cano is said to have asked for it to be removed because the carving was poor.
Most of the works below are religious paintings. In both The Virgin of the Star and The Virgin and Child, dated 1645–1652, a young Virgin sits in hilly country under a dark sky with the Child lying across her lap; a single star shines over her head in the first, and faint stars dot the sky in the second. In The dead Christ supported by an Angel a dark-winged angel holds the pale body upright from behind. Two Kings of Spain, c. 1641, seats a stout, moustached king beside a young one, each crowned and holding a sceptre.
Sources: Wikidata, Wikipedia, Museo del Prado. Portrait: José Vázquez (grabado), José Maea (dibujo).
