José de Madrazo y Agudo

José de Madrazo y Agudo (22 April 1781 – 8 May 1859) was a Spanish painter and engraver; one of the primary exponents of the Neoclassical style in Spain. He was the patriarch of a family of artists that included his sons Federico and Luis; and his grandsons, Raimundo and Ricardo.

Biography He was born in Santander, and began his studies at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando with Gregorio Ferro, a student of Anton Raphael Mengs. After 1803, he studied in Paris with Jacques-Louis David. Following David's advice, he applied for and received a government stipend to study in Rome.

In 1806 he went to Rome, where he completed his training at the Accademia di San Luca and studied Classical art. While there, he had some initial success with his rendering of the death of Viriatus. He also refused to take an oath of allegiance to the new government of King Joseph I. As a result, he and the other Spanish artists living in Rome were effectively held prisoner at the Castel Sant'Angelo. There, he got to know the exiled King Carlos IV and his wife, María Luisa de Borbón.

In 1809, he married Isabel Kuntze (?–1866), daughter of the painter Tadeusz Kuntze, who was also staying in Rome. In 1812, King Carlos IV arrived in Rome and brought Madrazo into his circle, also buying La muerte de Lucrecia, a painting he had rejected only a few years previously. The king also commissioned Madrazo to copy several old paintings.

Madrazo focused on religious and historical themes and, together with José Aparicio, helped to establish a movement devoted to patriotic art. His later works were often criticized for being emotionally cold and excessively grandiloquent.

The Madrazo family have been described as one of the most important painting dynasties in 19th-century Spain. His sons were Federico de Madrazo, a painter; Luis de Madrazo, a painter; Pedro de Madrazo, an art critic and Juan de Madrazo, an architect; while his grandsons were Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, a painter and Ricardo de Madrazo, also a painter. His granddaughter Cecilia de Madrazo married the celebrated artist Mariano Fortuny.

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