Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/503

In Andalucia. 473 original artists of his time in Spain. He lived most of his life in Seville, but in 1650 he removed to Madrid, in which city he died. He was so gloomy and violent that he passed nearly his whole life in solitude, and was abandoned by all his pupils — amongst whom was the celebrated Velazquez, — and even by his own children. He painted his pictures, as he did everything else, in a sort of frenzy. He used reeds to draw with, and large brushes to paint with. Armed in this manner, he executed im- portant works with incredible dexterity and promptitude. The enormous Last Judgment which he painted for the church of S. Bernardo, at Seville, where it still hangs, proves that Herrera was a painter of no mean abilities. His frescoes, too, on the cupola of S. Buena Ventura at Seville are worthy of great praise : of these pictures Herrera made various etchings. Juan del Castillo (1584 — 1640), the younger brother of Augustin del Castillo, was a painter of no great note. He studied art under Luis Fernandez, and soon became famous as a historic painter. He is more renowned as a teacher of painters than as an artist. He can boast of having imparted instruction to Pedro de Moya, to Alonso Cano, and even to the great Murillo. Francisco de Zurbaran (1598 — 1662?) belongs to the Andalucian school, because he studied under Roelas at Seville, and passed the greater part of his life there. In 1630, he was invited to Madrid, and was soon after- wards appointed painter to Philip IV. In 1650, the monarch employed him to paint the Labours of Hercules in the palace of Buen Retiro. It is universally acknowledged that the best of Zurbaran' s compositions, that in which all his good points are united