José Villegas Cordero (26 August 1844, Seville – 9 November 1921, Madrid) was a Spanish painter of historical, genre and costumbrista scenes.

[3] Near the end of 1868, with financial assistance from his family, he decided to visit Rome with some of his friends[1] and spent time in the workshop of Eduardo Rosales.

He also began painting Orientalist scenes based on the numerous sketches he brought back from Morocco,[2] and returned there briefly to collect more material.

In 1878, the Spanish Senate commissioned him to paint a large-scale historical work on the subject "Hernán Cortés' interview with Moctezuma".

In 1901, in recognition of his work there, he was named Director of the Museo del Prado; abandoning his studio in Rome and returning to Madrid.