Claudio Coello
Claudio Coello (2 March 1642 – 20 April 1693) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Coello is considered the last great Spanish painter of the 17th century.
The son of Faustino Coello, a famous Portuguese sculptor, he was a court painter for Charles II. He worked on many churches and public buildings in Madrid, with his most famous work being in the sacristy of El Escorial, which is filled with portraits of priests and courtiers.
Life and work
Claudio Coello was of Portuguese parents, but was born in Madrid in 1642. There, he was instructed in art by
Coello was the last Spanish painter of eminence for some years, as from the time that Luca Giordano was summoned to Spain, art fell gradually into decay. Many excellent examples of his work are to be seen in the churches and convents in Madrid, Saragossa, and Salamanca
In the crowd of personages that form the procession, there are no less than fifty portraits, including those of the king and the principal figures of the court. It is painted with the utmost precision, yet in a bold and masterly style, and there is a majestic solemnity in the arrangement of the whole, which suits well the grandeur of the subject. It is a very extraordinary performance, and holds its place even alongside the works of Titian and Rubens. The preference given to Luca Giordano, who came to Madrid in 1692, in painting the grand staircase in the Escorial mortified Coello so much that he died of vexation in Madrid in 1693.[citation needed]
Coello etched three plates, viz. : — 'Christ on the Cross, with the Virgin, St. Augustine, and St. Monica,' and the portraits of Charles II and his mother. He was the instructor of Sebastián Muñoz and Teodoro Ardmans.
Selected works
- Budapest Gallery. St. Joseph with the Virgin and Child.
- Madrid. S. Placido. An altar-piece.
- Madrid, Palace. Cartoons, representing the Fable of Cupid and Psyche, painted by Ant. Palomino.
- Madrid, Museum. Assumption of the Virgin (Two), Portrait of Charles II. of Spain, St. Rosa of Lima, and The Apotheosis of St. Augustin.
- Munich. Gallery. St. Peter of Alcantara.
- Petersburg. Hermitage. His own Portrait and The Magdalen.
- Saragossa. Augustinian Church. The frescoes in the cupola.
- Madrid (province). El Escorial. The Adoration of the Host. (His chef-d'oeuvre.)
- Saint Catherine of Alexandria Dominating the Emperor Maxentius
Gallery
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The Annunciation (1668)
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Boy Jesus at the Door of the Temple (1660)
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Holy Family
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The Triumph of Saint Augustine
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Saint Dominic de Guzmán (1685)
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The Virgin with the Child between the Theological Virtues and Saints (1669)
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bryan, Michael (1886). "Coello, Claudio". In Graves, Robert Edmund (ed.). Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers (A–K). Vol. I (3rd ed.). London: George Bell & Sons.
External links