Antonio Ponce (c.1608-1677)

• Was a Spanish Baroque painter.
• He was the son of a servant in the household of Juan de Zúñiga, 1st Duke of Peñaranda.
• When he was only one month old (presumably following the Duke's death), his family moved to Madrid.
• In 1624, when his father died, he became an apprentice in the workshop of Juan van der Hamen.
• Upon completing his training, he married Francisca de Alfaro, Hamen's niece.
• In 1633, he was among the painters whose workshops were raided by the government.
• Portraits of King Philip IV and the Royal Family were confiscated so they could be examined by Vicente Carducho and Diego Velázquez, to judge their quality and propriety.
• Apparently, nothing objectionable was found as, the following year, he became a member of the Painters' Guild. 

• In 1637, documents indicate that he was working on ephemeral decorations for the arrival of the Princess of Carignano and, a year later, creating decorations at the Palacio del Buen Retiro.

• A death certificate was issued in 1677.

• His wife survived him. 

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