Manuel Castellano (painter)

Manuel Rodríguez de la Parra Castellano (3 February 1823/1826 – 3 April 1880) was a Spanish costumbrista painter and engraver in the Romantic style, known especially for his bullfight scenes.

He was born in Madrid, where he began his art studies at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid and later worked with Carlos Luis Ribera to decorate the ceiling of the meeting room for the Congress of Deputies.

[1] In 1856, he won honorable mention at the first National Exhibition of Fine Arts for his painting of the picadors preparing their horses at the old bullring in Madrid (demolished in 1874), which incorporates portraits of many of the period's most popular bullfighters, including Paquiro.

In 1875, aged almost fifty, he was awarded a stipend to study in Rome and Venice.

He amassed more than 20,000 of them, from 1853 until his death in Madrid, primarily portraits and scenic vistas, most of which were arranged in albums.