Alonso Cano

Alonso Cano (born March 19, 1601, Granada, Spain—died September 3, 1667, Granada) was a painter, sculptor, and architect, often called the Spanish Michelangelo for his diversity of talents. Although he led a remarkably tempestuous life, he produced religious works of elegance and ease.

Moving to Sevilla in 1614, Cano studied sculpture under Juan Martínez Montañés and painting under Francisco Pacheco. Forced to leave the city in 1638 because of a duel with the painter Sebastián de Llano y Valdés, he fled to Madrid and obtained the favour of the court. His activities as court painter ended in 1644, when, suspected of the murder of his wife, he had to escape to Valencia. Cano then returned to King Philip IV and successfully solicited a position as canon in the cathedral in Granada in 1652, but he was expelled for misbehaviour in 1656. Returning to Madrid, he took holy orders and was appointed chief architect of the Granada cathedral, a position he held until his death.

Cano painted extensively in Sevilla, Madrid, and Granada. The Sevilla paintings, among them Stations of the Cross and St. Francis Borgia, influenced by Francisco de Zurbarán, are monumental and bold, with strong tenebrism (emphasis on darkness). The Madrid paintings, including St. Isidore’s Miracle of the Well (1645–46), are more impressionistic, foreshadowing the work of Velázquez. Finally, the last paintings, from his stay in Granada, especially the Mysteries of the Virgin in the Cathedral, are harmonious, with a classic balance and symmetry.

No sculpture from Cano’s Sevilla period has survived, but many of his polychromed wood statues, such as the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception (1655–56), exist from his time in Granada. His finest work of sculpture, St. James of Alcalá (1653–57), is characteristic in its simplicity of design and its expressive eloquence.

Cano is most famous for his paintings and sculpture, but his facade for the cathedral at Granada is considered one of the most original works of Spanish architecture, bearing Cano’s unique personal stamp and executed with remarkable expressive unity.