NÚÑEZ DE VILLAVICENCIO, Pedro

Spanish painter. He was born into an aristocratic family and was educated for a military career. However, he turned to letters and painting at an early age, and in 1660 he was one of the artists who, with Murillo, founded the Academia de Pintura in Seville. In 1661 he joined the Jerusalem Order of the Knights of Malta and travelled to Malta, where he underwent religious and military training. There he met the Italian painter Mattia Preti, who was also a member of the Order; the two became friends and established a working relationship. From 1664 on Núñez de Villavicencio travelled to Italy and Spain in the service of the Order and on several occasions was able to return to Seville. He must also have passed through Madrid, as he is known to have been in contact with Charles II.

Boy Attacked by a Dog

The catalogue of N�ñez de Villavicencio’s output is small, however, he was a skilled practitioner of the art. Most of the surviving works are genre scenes, which depart from the pictures by Murillo although they are not servile imitations. Boy Attacked by a Dog is more animated than the models provided by Murillo and is actually a playful paraphrase of the protagonist of Raphael’s Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple in the Stanza d’Eliodoro, Vatican Palace.

The artist probably painted this genre painting during his stay in Italy. The pendant of the painting, The Frightened Shepherd Boy is in the Galleria Estense in Modena.

Boy Attacked by a Dog

Boy Looking for Fleas on a Dog