Pantoja de la Cruz, Juan

Born in Valladolid (1553), in Madrid he was first a pupil of Sánchez Coello and then of Jorge de la Rua, with whom he travelled to France. Through the former - whom he succeeded as court painter to King Philip II, becoming the official court portraitist with the change of monarch - he followed the line of court portraiture introduced by Antonio Moro and Hispanicised by his master Sánchez Coello, characterised by being essentially full-length and somewhat idealised and in which, according to his greatest connoisseur, María Kusche, the greatest problem was to find the balance between idealisation and resemblance to the sitter whose memory he was to perpetuate. His portraits are notable for their meticulousness in depicting lace, dresses and jewellery, with the sitter standing against a dark background. He was also interested in religious themes, attracted by the play of light and realism. He died in Madrid in 1608.