Pedro de Orrente (1580-1645)

• Was a Spanish painter of the early Baroque period.
• His father, Jaime de Horrente, was a merchant from Marseilles who had settled in Murcia in 1573.
• By 1600, Pedro was in Toledo, where he was hired to create an altarpiece in the village of Guadarrama.
• He attracted little more attention until 1604, when a certain Jerónimo de Castro wrote a promise to pay Pedro's father for work that Pedro had recently done.
• After that time, he may have been in Italy until 1607, when he was back in Murcia arranging for the services of a maid.
• Letters from a later period indicate that he and Angelo Nardi may have become friends while he was there.
• He was married in Murcia in 1612.
• By 1616, he was in Valencia, where he painted the monumental "Martyrdom of San Sebastián" at the cathedral.
• A year later, he was doing similar works at Toledo Cathedral.
• Juan de Sevilla was his only officially documented student.
• He befriended Jorge Manuel Theotocópuli, the son of El Greco, and became godfather for two of his children.
• A letter from the Santo Oficio, related to his application for membership, indicates that he and his wife were living in Espinardo in 1633.
• By 1638, he had bought two houses in Murcia.
• He made a  Will in Valencia in 1645, when he was widowed and childless and very comfortable, financially.
• He died only two days later. 
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