Martín Tovar y Tovar

His father, Antonio María Tovar (1791–1860), was a former official of the Spanish government who had retired after receiving a serious bullet wound during the War of Independence.

[1] He received his first lessons from Celestino Martínez who, at the age of nineteen, had just become an instructor at the "Academia de Dibujo" (Drawing Academy).

[1] In 1872, he exhibited at the "Primera Exposición Anual de Bellas Artes Venezolanas", organized by the explorers James Mudie Spence (1836–1878)[4] and Anton Goering (who was also a painter).

In 1873, he received what would be his largest commission; painting 30 portraits of heroes from the War of Independence and other public figures for the "Salón Elíptico" at the Palacio Federal Legislativo,[3] a project that would occupy him for two years.

In 1881, he received another commission from President Antonio Guzmán Blanco; a large canvas depicting the signing of the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence, also for the "Salón Elíptico".