Biography

Painter, member of a Spanish family of artists. Pablo González Velázquez (1664-1727) was an Andalusian sculptor who worked in the Baroque style and in 1702 settled in Madrid, where his three sons were born. There were numerous collaborations between the sons. Luis González Velázquez and Alejandro González Velázquez worked together in Madrid on the chapel of S Teresa (1737-39) in the church of S José, the church of the convent of El Sacramento, the church of El Salvador and the church of the Carmelitas Descalzas; in La Puebla de Montalbán, near Toledo, they worked together on the Ermita de la Virgen de la Soledad (1741-42), for which they executed the main altarpiece and pendentive paintings of Esther, Judith, Rachel and Abigail. The two also often undertook stage designs for the theatre in the Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid. They collaborated with their younger brother Antonio González Velázquez on the decoration of the church of the convent of La Visitación (now S Bárbara) in Madrid in 175758, the church of La Encarnación, the church of the Descalzas Reales, the church of the Salesas Reales (where they completed projects begun by Corrado Giaquinto, painting scenes from the Life of the Virgin and Allegories of the Virtues in fresco on the dome), the churches of S Isabel and S Ana and the church of SS Justo y Pastor, Madrid. Antonio was the father of Zacarías González Velázquez, the architect Isidro González Velázquez (1765-1829), and Castor González Velázquez.

Zacarías González Velázquez was the son of Antonio González Velázquez. He studied in Mariano Salvador Maella's studio and at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, of which his father was then director. The style of Mariano Salvador Maella, who in 1789 was appointed Pintor de Cámara to King Charles IV, had a profound influence on the young artist's work. Part of his early production includes a number of works for the Real Fábrica de Tapices de Santa Barbara in Madrid, for which he was the last artist to produce tapestry cartoons.

He received several prizes there and was elected to membership of the Academia in 1790, later becoming court painter. In 1819 he became director of painting at the Academia and in 1828 its director-general.