17^th Century Spanish

Painter of religious works; printmaker.

A member of the . Though originally from La Mancha, his family moved to Seville when he was very young, and it was here that he would develop his whole career. He was eventually buried in the Santa María Magdalena church.

In Seville he became acquainted with leading artists including Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Juan Valdés Leal, who were to exert a major influence on his work. He learned his trade at the printshop of his father, Bartolomé Arteaga, and his first known documented work is Aparición de la Virgen con el Niño a santa Rosa de Viterbo (1670). He was one of the founders of the Academia de Pintores (Academy of Painters) encouraged by Murillo and other artists of the time, where he would occupy the post of secretary.

The subject matter of his works was invariably religious, in which he was particularly noted for the excellence of his architectural perspectives and for his treatment of lighting and figures.