Antonio was born in Madrid in 1723 in a family with long lived artistic traditions, and his father, Pablo González Velázquez, was a sculptor. During his formation period, between 1747 and 1752, he studied in Corrado Giaquinto’s workshop in Rome, which became possible due to the scholarship granted by San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts. And there, in Rome, in 1748 he created the Santa Trinita degli Spagnuoli frescos which granted him certain fame, that renewed upon his return to Spain, and in 1753 earned him an interesting assignment of decorating the Nuestra Señora del Pilar chapel in the famous basilica in Saragossa. Several years later he took part in decorating the Church of Incarnation in Madrid and in 1757 was appointed as a court painter. Thus he took part in decoration of the recently finished Royal Palace - he was painting the allegory in the Queen’s antechamber. His honours culminated in 1765, when he was appointed the director of San Fernando Royal Academy. Thus he expanded his collaboration with Anton Rafael Mengs and Santa Isabel Royal Upholstery Plant - he was supplying them with his cartoons for upholstery. Among his most distinguished and famous students there was Francisco Bayeu, who in several years also became a maestro and finally the father-in-law of Francisco de Goya. Antonio González Velázquez died in Madrid in 1793.
|
