Claudio Coello

Claudio Coello was a Spanish Baroque painter born in Madrid in 1642. His father, Faustino Coello, was a famous Portuguese sculptor. Claudio studied under Francisco Rizi and, while still in school, created an altar-piece for San Plácido at Madrid. Coello befriended court painter Juan Carreño de Miranda, who gave the young artist access to study the works of Titian, Rubens, and van Dyck. Coello then studied in Rome, painting frescoes in churches and convents at Madrid and Toledo, as well as the Triumphal Arch for Queen Maria Louisa. Coello then became the painter to Charles II, under which he created his principal work at San Lorenzo in the Escorial: an altar-piece of the ‘Adoration of the Miraculous Host.’ He is considered to be the last great Spanish painter of the 17^th century.