Alonso Cano
A fiery genius of Spain's Golden Age who mastered painting, sculpture, and architecture, leaving a dramatic Baroque mark on his native Granada.
1601–1667 (age 66)·Spanish painter, architect and sculptor·Birthday: March 19
Biography
Alonso Cano was a Renaissance man in the Baroque era, a tempestuous artist whose life was as dramatic as his chiaroscuro. Trained in Sevilla as a painter under Pacheco (who also taught Velázquez) and as a sculptor under Montañés, he became a rare triple threat. His paintings, like the powerful 'Descent into Limbo,' are known for their sweet, graceful figures and vibrant Venetian color, a contrast to the tenebrism of his contemporaries. As a sculptor, his polychrome wood statues of saints, such as the Immaculate Conception, are breathtaking in their emotional intensity and delicate detail. Appointed to the royal court in Madrid, his career was marred by a violent temper; he was suspected of murdering his wife, though torture failed to produce a confession. Returning to Granada, he designed the Baroque facade of the city's cathedral, a final, monumental fusion of his architectural vision and sculptural flair.
#1 When Alonso Was Born
The biggest hits of 1601
Alonso's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1601Born
1606Started school
1614Became a teenager
1617Could drive
1619Could vote
1622Turned 21
1631Turned 30
1641Turned 40
1651Turned 50
1661Turned 60
1667Died at 66
Key Achievements
- Designed the main facade of Granada Cathedral, a seminal work of Spanish Baroque architecture.
- Created the celebrated polychrome wood sculpture 'The Immaculate Conception,' a masterpiece of devotional art housed in the Sacristy of Granada Cathedral.
- Painted major altarpieces for churches in Sevilla, Madrid, and Granada, including the 'Virgin of the Olive Branch' for Jaén Cathedral.
- Served as *Maestro Mayor* (lead architect) of Granada Cathedral and was appointed a canon of the cathedral, a rare honor for an artist.
Did You Know?
He was famously acquitted of his wife's murder after being tortured with the *strappado* and refusing to confess, the case collapsing for lack of evidence.
King Philip IV is said to have exclaimed, upon seeing one of Cano's drawings, that the artist was 'the Spanish Michelangelo.'
Much of his painted work was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, making his surviving sculptures and architecture even more critical to his legacy.
He was known to destroy his own paintings with a knife if a client attempted to haggle over the price he had set.
“The chisel, the brush, and the compass are servants to the same truth.”
