Juan de Alfaro y Gámez

JUAN DE ALFARO Y GÁMEZ, (1643 - 1680).
"Portrait of Basilio Grau de Arellano".
Oil on canvas.
Restored. It has two patches on the back.
Measurements: 117 x 102 cm; 138 x 114. cm (frame).
On a neutral background and a smooth surface with a family coat of arms, stands the figure of Basilio Grau de Arellano.
The magnificent drawing that the work shows dominates over the color, as, on the other hand, is usual both at the time and in portraits as a general rule. The detail of the coat of arms distances the painting a little from the common type of portraits in the Spanish court environment of the Habsburgs, and is much more reminiscent of French examples, much more given to this type of luxury elements. The posture of the personage, the colors, the style, the composition, the use of a neutral background for the portrait, etc., all relate the work to Juan de Alfaro y Gámez.
Juan de Alfaro y Gámez was the son of a noble apothecary, and learned painting from the Cordovan Antonio del Castillo, as well as being a protégé of Antonio Palomino, who sent him to Madrid with letters of recommendation to work in Velázquez's workshop. In the environment of the Royal Collections he met and became fond of the painting of Anton Van Dyck, whose style and novelties he introduced in his native Cordoba when he returned. He was Notary of the Holy Office, Administrator of Royal Revenues and painter of the Admiral of Castile (Juan Gaspar Enriquez de Cabrera), and known and appreciated above all for his portraits, of which he painted a considerable number both in Cordoba and in Madrid.
His paintings are preserved in important private collections and institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts of Cordoba, a Baptism of Christ for the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Linares, an "Assumption of the Virgin", painted in 1668, which is in the Museo Nacional del Prado.