Alonso Sánchez Coello (c. 1531 – 1588)

• Was an Iberian portrait painter of the Spanish and Portuguese Renaissance.
• Alonso Sánchez Coello was born in Benifairó de les Valls, near Valencia in Spain.
• He left for Portugal c. 1541 or 1542 to live with his grandfather.
• Coello's years in Portugal and his family name of Portuguese origin led to a long-standing belief that he was in fact Portuguese.
• His grandfather's master King John III of Portugal sent the young painter to study with Anthonis Mor in Flanders around 1550.
• In 1552, the painter went to Lisbon with Anthonis Mor.
• For a few years, Sánchez Coello remained in Portugal working for the court of the heir to the throne, João Manuel, Prince of Portugal.
• After the prince's death, Sánchez Coello moved to the Spanish court of Philip II.
• In 1555, Sánchez Coello was in Valladolid working for the Spanish court.

• Sánchez Coello became Court Painter in 1560.

• Sánchez Coello married Louisa Reyaltes, a daughter of a silversmith, in either 1560 or 1561 in Valladolid.
• The couple had seven children.
• Coello's daughter, Isabel Sánchez, became a painter.
• The painter moved with the court to Toledo and finally settled in Madrid in 1561.
• Among his disciples were Juan Pantoja de la Cruz and Felipe de Liaño.
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