Alonso Cano Facts for Kids

For the metro station, see Alonso Cano (Madrid Metro).

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal family name is Cano and the second or maternal family name is Almansa.

Alonso Cano, (Portraits of Illustrious Spanish), 1791

Alonso Cano Almansa or Alonzo Cano (19 March 1601 – 3 September 1667) was a Spanish painter, architect, and sculptor born in Granada.

Biography

Saint John the Evangelist's Vision of Jerusalem

He learned architecture from his father, Miguel Cano; painting in the academy of Juan del Castillo, and from Francisco Pacheco the teacher of Velázquez; and sculpture from Juan Martínez Montañés. As a sculptor, his most famous works are the Madonna and Child in the church of Lebrija (also called Nebrija), and the colossal figures of San Pedro and San Pablo.

He was made first royal architect, painter to Philip IV, and instructor to the prince, Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias. The King gave him the church preferment of a canon of the Granada Cathedral (1652), in order to take up a position as chief architect of the cathedral, where his main achievement in architecture was the façade, designed at the end of his life and erected to his design after his death.

He was notorious for his ungovernable temper; and it is said that once he risked his life by committing the then capital offence of dashing to pieces the statue of a saint, when in a rage with the purchaser who begrudged the price he demanded. According to another story, he found his house robbed after coming home one evening, his wife murdered, and his Italian servant fled. Notwithstanding the presumption against the fugitive, the magistrates condemned Cano, because he was of a jealous temper. Upon this he fled to Valencia, but afterwards returned to Madrid.

After the death of his wife he took Holy Orders as a protection from further prosecution, but still continued his professional pursuits. He died in 1667. In his last moments, when the priest held to him a crucifix, he told him to take it away because it was badly carved. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the dying Cano refused the Sacrament from a priest who gave it to conversos. Probably this version is spurious as many others about his life and temperament.

Works

San Vicente Ferrer (praying)
Virgin of the Olive Tree (1629)
Inmaculada del Facistol (1655–1656) in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Granada.
Virgen of Bethlehem
Bust of Saint Paul
Head of San Juan de Dios
Annunciation
Christ Bound to the Column in the church of the Convento del Stmo. Cristo de la Victoria de Serradilla (Cáceres).
Entrance of the Cathedral of Granada
Saint John the Baptist as a Youth 1634, in the National Sculpture Museum (Valladolid).
St. Anthony Preaching to the Fishes (ca. 1630) [The Detroit Institute of Arts]
Christ and the Samaritan Woman(ca. 1650-1652) Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando Madrid.
The Death of Saint Francis. Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid.
The Christ Crucified (c.1646) Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.