Francisco Lopez-Caro

Francisco Lopez-Caro

Spanish artist, b. at Seville in 1598; d. at Madrid in 1662; he was a pupil of Juan de Las Roelas, the painter of the great altar-piece in the church of St. Isidore in Seville, of the "Martyrdom of St. Andrew" in the museum at Seville, and of the pictures in the university chapel. Of his pupil we know exceedingly little, save that with indifferent success he practised the art of painting in Seville until about 1660, when he went to Madrid where he spent the remainder of his life, and died in 1662. His works were mainly portraits, some of which are in private collections in Madrid, Salamanca, Granada, and Seville, but none of them is now considered of specially high merit.

FRANCISCO CARO, his son and pupil, b. at Seville in 1627; d. at Madrid in 1667; he entered the studio of Alonso Cano in Madrid, and considerably surpassed his father in ability and skill. His most important works are those representing scenes from the life of Our Lady, which adorn the chapel of St. Isidore in St. Andrew's church in Madrid; but his largest work refers to the indulgence of the Portiuncula and the jubilee of its grant. It was painted for the Franciscan convent at Segovia, and contains the portraits of the donor of the picture and of his wife, Señor and Señora de Contreras. Both father and son are spoken of in Palomino's work with high praise on account of their devotion to their faith and the serious way in which they made use of their artistic abilities.

PALOMINO DE CASTRO Y VELASCO, El Museo Pictorico y Escala (Madrid, 1715); MAXWELL, Annals of the Artists of Spain (London, 1848); QUILLIET, Dictionnaire des Peintres Espagnols (Paris, 1816); HOARD, Vie Complète des Peintres Espognols (Paris, 1839).

GEORGE CHARLES WILLIAMSON