Palomino, Antonio

(1653-1726)

   Spanish painter from Bujalance, near Cordoba, best known for his Museo pictórico y escala óptica (1715-1724), a treatise on painting invaluable for its biographical material that has earned him the sobriquet The Spanish Vasari. In Cordoba, Palomino studied law, theology, and philosophy. He also took painting lessons from Juan de Valdés Leal, who figures in his treatise. In 1688, he became court painter to King Charles II of Spain and, in 1725, after his wife's death, he entered the priesthood, dying in the following year. The first and second volumes of his Museo pictórico expound his theory of painting and provide material on the processes involved in creating art. These two were of little impact, yet the third volume, subtitled El Parnaso español pintoresco laureado, today serves as one of the major biographical sources for the Spanish artists of the Baroque era.