Claudio Coello. Claudio Coello was a Spanish Baroque painter.
Coello is considered the last great Spanish painter of the 17th century. The son of Faustino Coello, a famous Portuguese sculptor, he was a court painter for Charles II. He worked on many churches and public buildings in Madrid, with his most famous work being in the sacristy of El Escorial, which is filled with portraits of priests and courtiers.
Claudio Coello was of Portuguese parents, but was born at Madrid in 1642. He was there instructed in the art by Francisco Rizi, and executed while yet in that school an altar-piece for San Plácido at Madrid.
His acquaintance with the court painter, Juan Carreño de Miranda, procured him the permission to visit the royal collection, where he made his greatest advance by studying the works of Titian, Rubens, and Van Dyck. His friendshipwith José Jiménez Donoso, under whom he studied at Rome, was not less advantageous for him.
In conjunction with that artist he painted frescoes at Madrid and Toledo, and executed the Triumphal Arch for the entrance of the Queen, Maria Louisa of Orleans. By these paintings he became well known, and was employed by the Archbishop of Saragossa in 1683. He was made painter to Charles II, by whom he was employed in the Escorial. Coello was the last Spanish painter of eminence for some years, as from the time that Luca Giordano was summoned to Spain, the art sank gra