José Gil de Castro

José Gil de Castro y Morales (1 September 1785 – ) was an Afro-Peruvian portrait painter, cartographer and soldier who spent many years in Chile.

Biography José Gil de Castro was born in the city of Lima, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru; his parents were free citizens. His first studies were with Julián Jayo (?–1821) in Trujillo while he was stationed in Lima as an officer in the colonial militia. When he returned to Lima he was apprenticed to José del Pozo.

Somewhere between 1805 and 1808, he moved to Chile, where he opened a studio and established his reputation as a portrait painter. He was familiarly known as "El Mulato Gil". In 1816, he was appointed Grand Master of the Guild of Painters. His home and the surrounding grounds are now part of the Plaza Mulato Gil de Castro.

Thanks to his reputation as a portrait painter, he travelled extensively throughout Chile and Argentina, working on commissions from notable public figures. A distinguishing characteristic of his work is the text relating to his subject, placed on a banner, plaque or other device, that he included on many of his canvases. In 1820, he became a cartographer for the new Chilean government, but returned to Peru, probably in 1825, The Chilean writer , in his novel Cosa Mentale (A Mental Thing, 1992), attempts to recreate the painter's life, in a fantastical manner.

Gallery Portraits

Religious paintings