Juan de Alfaro y Gámez

Being employed to paint subjects from the life of St. Francis for the cloister of the convent of that name, he took them from prints, but had the folly to put to each of them Alfaro pinxit.

His first master, Castillo, to chastise his vanity, obtained permission to paint one, and placed at the bottom non pinxit Alfaro, which passed into a proverb.

He was fond of travelling, was well versed in literature, wrote poetry, and some interesting notes on the lives of Becerra, Céspedes, and Velazquez.

He painted the portrait of Calderón de la Barca, which was placed over the tomb of the poet in the church of San Salvador in Madrid.

He forsook the admiral when he was banished, and meanly solicited his patronage when recalled: the repulse he received produced melancholy, and caused his death, which took place in Madrid.