Juan Martín Cabezalero (Almadén, 1645 - Madrid, 1673) was a Spanish Baroque painter of the Madrid school in the second half of the seventeenth century. His early death and the small number of documented works make his figure hard to define precisely, although his four large Passion paintings in Madrid have served to establish his style.
He trained in Madrid with Juan Carreño de Miranda, in whose workshop he is documented around 1666, already styled as a painter. In 1667 he contracted four canvases on the Passion for the chapel of the Cristo de los Dolores in the Venerable Orden Tercera, completed in 1668 and still in their original location. They combine the influence of Van Dyck and Rubens with Venetian echoes and a fragmented light that alternates lit figures with shadowed areas.
His legacy rests mainly on the Assumption in the Prado and the Pentecost at Silos, which share with the Madrid canvases a loose brushwork and a monumental composition. He died at around twenty-seven, and Palomino praised his modesty and devotion to study.
Works (3)
This canvas by Juan Martín Cabezalero shows Saint Francis of Assisi in a scene of vision: Christ, standing on the water, supports a young cleric who seems to walk on the surface. The subject is not entirely clear; a 1786 sale inventory described a vision in which Christ reveals himself to a reluctant priest, and a possible identification with Count Orlando Cattani has been proposed. Its authorship by Cabezalero is now almost universally accepted despite earlier attributions. Its luminous effects and golden brown palette are characteristic of the painter.
Where to see the work
- Museo del Prado Madrid · 2
- Lázaro Galdiano Museum Madrid · 1