Francisco Camilo

Spain · 1610–1673

Francisco Camilo was a Spanish painter, the son of an Italian immigrant who had settled in Madrid. When his father died, his mother remarried, and Camilo became the stepson of the painter Pedro de las Cuevas. De las Cuevas brought Camilo up as his own son, teaching him to paint. At the age of 18, Camilo was asked to paint for the high altar of the Jesuits’ house at Madrid an image representing St. Francis Borgia (which was afterwards removed to make way for an altarpiece in plastic).