Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo

Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo
Family of the Painter, c. 1660–1665, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
Born	Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo c. 1612 Cuenca, Spain
Died	February 10, 1667 Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Known for	Painting

Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo (c.1612 – February 10, 1667) was a Spanish Baroque portrait and landscape painter, the most distinguished of the followers of Velázquez, whose style he imitated more closely than did any other artist. A fine painter himself, Mazo was a master of landscape, as proven by his most celebrated work View of Saragossa.

Little is really known about Mazo’s early life. The date and place of his birth are uncertain. Apparently, he was born in Cuenca, as his parents, Hernando Martinez and Lucia Bueno del Mazo, were from that province. However, some sources consider Madrid as his native city. The date of his birth has been estimated around 1612 since it is known that his mother was born in 1596 and he married in 1633 when he probably was in his early twenties.

The whereabouts of his training remain a mystery. He must have been in Velázquez's workshop sometimes before his marriage, so it is quite possible that he had been his future father-in-law's apprentice. Mazo married the famous painter’s only surviving daughter, Francisca de Silva Velázquez y Pacheco, on August 21, 1633, at the Church of Santiago in Madrid.Philip IV and the Prime Minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares, served as the couple’s sponsors. The marriage was the event that guaranteed Mazo’s future success at Court. Velázquez immediately arranged a royal appointment and on February 23, 1634, he transferred to Mazo his position of Usher of the King’s Chamber, with the permission of the King. From this it can be assumed that Mazo was then already a disciple of the famous painter, and from that date he was closely associated with his father-in-law with whom he lived and collaborated. Velázquez furthered Mazo's career with a steady hand and secured palace appointments for him and later for Mazo’s children.

In 1643, Mazo became Master of Drawing and personal painter of the heir to the Spanish Crown, Baltasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias, who in 1645 became godfather of his fifth child. Prince Baltasar Carlos commissioned him to copy hunt scenes by Paul de Vos, Rubens, Jordaens and other Flemish painters. Mazo accompanied the prince to Aragón in 1646. During this trip, he painted the famous View of Saragossa and a last portrait of the young prince who died unexpectedly at the age of sixteen. After the death of the prince, Philip IV decreed that the perquisites that Mazo had been receiving be continued, and kept him employed as a painter.