Francisco de Solís

[1] At the age of eighteen, he painted a scene depicting the Capuchins of Villarrubia de los Ojos, which was shown publicly before being taken to them.

He was married to Lucía Barragán, also from a family of the minor nobility, and associated with intellectuals such as Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

He was without financial worries, which made him unambitious as an artist, but he amassed a large library and a valuable collection of prints and drawings; some of which were signed as gifts to him.

He painted at many of the convents in Madrid, which provided for connections that brought commissions from outside the area; including the Franciscans in Viana and the Dominicans in Villanueva de los Infantes.

[1] All of his preserved works are of a religious nature, but he apparently painted scenes from mythology as well; notably a series on the Labors of Hercules at the Plaza de San Salvador [es], which were commissioned to celebrate the arrival of Marie Louise d’Orléans and her court in 1679.