Spanish, 1601-67 Spanish painter, sculptor and architect. He was an artist of rare versatility in 17th-century Spain, although his architectural work was not extensive. While he is also known for his drawings, only about 60 of these are definitely attributable to him, despite the many extant sketches with the name 'Cano' carelessly added by later hands. Unlike most of his Spanish contemporaries, such as Zurbaren or Velezquez, whose artistic styles did not outlive them, Cano's artistic legacy is measured in part by the number of artists who trained in his workshop and went on to become important masters in their own right: the painters Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra, Juan de Sevilla (1643-95) and, more distantly, Jos Risueo, and the sculptors Pedro de Mena and Jos de Mora,
Saint John the Evangelist's Vision of Jerusalem
1636-37 Oil on canvas, 83 x 44 cm Wallace Collection, London This painting, contracted on 23 November 1635, was executed for the convent church of Santa Paula in Seville. It is evident that the artist had mastered an Italianate manner of painting; the figure of the angel alone is sufficient to corroborate this observation. The partly clad body, the complicated, foreshortened pose, and the mastery of anatomical drawing are unique elements in Sevillian painting of the time, as are the deep perspective of the landscape and the delicate, translucent colours. Cano's mastery of this facile, sophisticated style suggests that he had passed time in Italy, although there is not the slightest evidence that he left the city until his final departure in 1638