CEREZO, Mateo the Younger - b. ~1626 Burgos, d. 1666 Madrid - WGA

CEREZO, Mateo the Younger

(b. ~1626 Burgos, d. 1666 Madrid)

Spanish painter. He first trained with his father, Mateo Cerezo the Elder, a painter of devotional images, and then completed his training in Madrid, where he arrived c. 1654. He is said to have studied with Juan Carreño de Miranda or possibly with Antonio de Pereda. Between 1656 and 1659 Cerezo worked in Valladolid and Burgos, returning permanently to Madrid c. 1660. His short career showed a precocious talent, and he rapidly absorbed the techniques of Carreño and of such contemporary painters as Francisco de Herrera the Younger. He was inspired by Titian and the refined elegance of Anthony van Dyck, and his varied, warm palette made him one of the most sensitive and refined colourists of the late Madrid school.

Ecce Homo
Ecce Homo by

Ecce Homo

This painting shows the influence of Van Dyck, both the colours and the composition is close to the Flemish Baroque painting. However, its pathos and sentimentality relate it to contemporary Spanish religious painting.

Immaculate Conception
Immaculate Conception by

Immaculate Conception

This painting is related to a smaller copper version of this subject (The Hermitage, St. Petersburg) with some variations in the details.

Immaculate Conception
Immaculate Conception by

Immaculate Conception

The Assumption of the Virgin
The Assumption of the Virgin by

The Assumption of the Virgin

Mateo Cerezo, a pupil of Carreño, was a gifted painter and a good colorist in the Madrid school of painters.

The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine
The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine by

The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine

After his return to Madrid around 1660, Cerezo’s development was rapid as a religious painter and as one of the most appealing still-life artist of the period. These abilities are already evident in his Mystic Marriage of St Catherine, where the bright colours, sparkling textures, and harmonious composition show his precocious talent.

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