Juan Bautista Maíno

Juan Bautista Maíno (1581–1649) was born in Pastrana, the son of a merchant in Milanese fabrics and a Portuguese noblewoman, both in the service of the Princess of Eboli. Some historians believe he trained with El Greco, though no document confirms it. What is certain is that he spent 1600 to 1608 in Italy, where the work of Caravaggio, Orazio Gentileschi, Guido Reni and Annibale Carracci shaped his style. He moved to Toledo in 1611 and the following year painted the Altarpiece of the Four Days of Easter for the Dominicans, now in the Prado and perhaps his best-known work. In 1613 he entered the Dominican order himself, which reduced his output. Philip III called him to court in 1620 to teach drawing to the future Philip IV, and there he helped establish the young Diego Velázquez, choosing him in a contest to paint an Expulsion of the Moors. He died in Madrid in 1649. Here: Adoration of the Magi, Adoration of the Shepherds and Pentecost II.