He was also the brother-in-law of the great Spanish Orientalist, Mariano Fortuny, who would be a major influence on both his life and work.

Ricardo Frederico de Madrazo y Garretta was born in Madrid[1] into a family of artists with a noble background.

[5] De Madrazo accompanied Fortuny and his family again when they moved to Paris and spent his time copying works at the Louvre and the Musée du Luxembourg.

[2] After Fortuny's death, de Madrazo took care of his studio; cataloguing his works and arranging for an auction at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris.

Among those who visited him at his studio were Queen Maria Christina, the philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington, the French art collector Paul Durand-Ruel and President William Taft.