González Ruiz was a first-born of Manuel González Crespo, an unknown painter, and his second wife Isabel Ruiz, with whom he had five children. Antonio was born in Corella, a town in Navarre, and was baptized on the 21 July 1711. At the age of fifteen he moved to Madrid in search of money and of the best mentors, whom he found, as he got acquainted with the famous landscape painter Michel Ange Houasse and worked in his studio for four years until the maestro’s death. |
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In 1732, craving for novelty and dreaming to complete his education, he travelled to different European countries. Unlike others, he did not have any scholarship, just some saved money. He went to the most important cities of that time: Paris, Rome and Naples, which added an academic touch to all of his paintings. On his return to Madrid in 1737 he made friends in the circle of the sculptor Giovanni Domenico Olivieri, a real do-all in the artistic society of the Villa and the Court. It is unknown whether it was with the help of this or another friend that in 1739 he was appointed painter of the king Felipe V, and since then till his last breath Antonio took an active part in the most important events which marked the Spanish artistic life of the 18th century.
On the 13th of July 1744 the king signed the Royal Decree that lay the basis for the creation of the Junta Preparatoria, engaged in the foundation of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the way it was made in Europe many years before; the director of the above-mentioned Junta was Olivieri, Antonio’s friend. It was divided into three sections, each of them dedicated to the main branches of art. The Frenchman Van Loo and González Ruiz were appointed directors of the Painting section; the other four professors were Peña, Calleja, Bonavía and Menéndez. The creation of the Junta Preparatoria was glorified by González Ruiz in his grandiose allegoric painting that was saved by the Academy of San Fernando. This institution was created on the 12th of April 1752, when a new king Fernando VI signed a decree that sanctioned the birth of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts under the advocacy of San Fernando and protected by the King. The section of the Engraving was added later to the existing three sections of the Junta Preparatoria. The directors of the Painting section were still González Ruiz and Van Loo. Antonio held the post until his death.
On the 13th of June of the same year the first gathering of the Academy took place, and once again the painter made two king’s portraits for this occasion. The first one was allegoric and it depicted Fernando VI as a protector of Arts, the other was an ordinary one and it served as a reference to him.
During the following years González Ruiz must have been entirely devoted to the Academy, as in 1760 he got an honorable certificate and a golden medal with the following inscription: “the Academy expresses appreciation for the most appropriate, decorous, and significant evaluation that was made of this Person, his talents and his special circumstances”. It must have made the painter very proud, because every time he painted a self-portrait, he depicted himself with the medal.
The year of 1768 was especially fortunate for him, as he was appointed honourable academician of the Academy of San Carlos of Valencia, created by Carlos III the year before, and he succeeded Ventura Rodriguez in the direction of the Academy of San Fernando. He assumed office on the first of January of the following year. In 1771 he confirmed the achieved honours, as he was appointed honourable member of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg. The last years of his life were marked by various honours. He died on the first of April 1788 and was buried in St Andres parish in Madrid, where he belonged. He was succeeded by Francisco Bayeu, his brother-in-law who influenced the Spanish and the European painting, and Francisco de Goya, who became director of the Painting section of the Royal academy of San Fernando. |
