Other names

Biography

He was the son of a painter from Valladolid and the daughter of a field master of the Tercios de Flandes. His first training must have taken place in the family home, but after being orphaned at an early age -his father died in 1622-, he entered the workshop of Andrés Carreño, uncle of Juan Carreño de Miranda, his father's executor. He went to the workshop of Pedro de las Cuevas in Madrid, where he had to meet some of the painters who would later stand out in the court environment. He left that workshop as a protégé of Francisco de Tejada, ombudsman of the Royal Council, who in his role as collector and patron, kept him in his house; later he enjoyed the patronage of the Italian Giovanni Battista Crescenzi, Marquis de la Torre, who arrived in Spain in 1617 and became a key figure in the artistic life of the Villa and Court of Madrid. Thanks to the latter, Pereda was introduced into the court environment, hence he took part in one of the most interesting royal projects of this time as was the decoration of the Hall of Kingdoms of the Buen Retiro Palace with the series dedicated to the battles. The painter from Valladolid painted El socorro de Génova por el segundo marqués de Santa Cruz, he also tackled another work at that time: El rey godo Agila; a canvas destined to the great series of Gothic kings, destined to the same palace. Both works are currently part of the collection of the Prado Museum. 

Crescenzi's death in 1635 marked a turning point in his career, as it probably explains his distance from the palace environment. Although he was not lacking in commissions. That year he also married his first wife, Mariana Bautrés, daughter of a royal archer. From that moment on, he worked on religious painting for private oratories or altars for various religious congregations, as well as still lifes. His vanitas are very interesting for their detail, and for the exquisite way in which he creates allegories aimed at meditation on the transience of life; see, for example, the one preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, or the one preserved in the Gallerie degli Uffizi in Florence. In 1640 he signed a work that had been commissioned by the Convent of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Fathers in his native town: an altar dedicated to The Betrothal of the Virgin. This work is currently in the church of Saint Sulpice in Paris. A piece that we highlight, within a wide range of paintings made for his ecclesiastical clientele.  

After the death of Mariana Bautrés in 1673, the following year he married Mariana Pérez de Bustamante, widow of a member of the Tribunal del Nuncio. The notable dowry of her marriage, added to the incessant pictorial activity, gave the master a comfortable economic situation in that last stage of the master's life. During those years, Pereda had a large and active workshop and a notable library, revealing his cultural interests and the social and intellectual circle in which he moved throughout his career. 

Bibliography

• ANGULO ÍÑIGUEZ, Diego y PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, Alfonso E. (1983): Historia de la pintura española. Escuela madrileña del segundo tercio del siglo XVII, Instituto Diego Velázquez, Madrid.
• PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, Alfonso E. (1978): D. Antonio de Pereda (1611-1678) y la pintura madrileña de su tiempo, catálogo de exposición, Ministerio de Cultura, Madrid.
• TORMO Y MONZÓ, Elías (1916): Antonio de Pereda: La vida de un artista de Valladolid, Tipografía del Colegio de Santiago, Valladolid.
• URREA FERNÁNDEZ, Jesús (1976): "Antonio de Pereda nació en 1611", nº 194, en Archivo Español de Arte.