Pablo de Céspedes was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 painter, poet, and architect.

His father, Alonso Cespedes, was descended of a noble Castilian family, once settled at Ocaña

Ocaña, Spain

Ocaña, a town and municipality of central Spain, in the province of Toledo. It is located on the extreme north of the tableland known as the Mesa de Ocaña, and has a station on the railway from Aranjuez to Cuenca.-History:...

, and the name of his mother, who was a native of Alcolea de Torote, was Olaya de Arroya.
Pablo was born and brought up in the house of his father's maternal uncle, Francisco Lopez de Aponte,
Canon of Cordoba, where he received a learned education. At the age of eighteen, in 1556, he was
sent to the Universidad Complutense in Alcalá de Henares

Alcalá de Henares

Alcalá de Henares , meaning Citadel on the river Henares, is a Spanish city, whose historical centre is one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, and one of the first bishoprics founded in Spain...

, and there, devoted himself to the acquirement of Oriental languages and theology. He later moved to Rome where he studied painting under Federico Zuccari

Federico Zuccari

Federico Zuccari, also known as Federigo Zuccaro , was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad.-Biography:Zuccari was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino ....

.

He was in Rome in February 1559, engaged in conducting certain negotiations for the
Archbishop Carranza de Miranda, of Toledo, who then stood charged with heresy before the Inquisition

Inquisition

The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...

of Valladolid

Valladolid

Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

. On the 17th of that month he addressed a letter to the prelate, informing him how
his business stood at the Vatican

Roman Curia

The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...

, in which he incautiously reflected on the conduct of the Inquisitor-General Valdez, and the Holy Office—an offence which no Inquisitor-General would forgive. This
document and others were seized with the primate's papers; he was therefore denounced by the tribunal, and but for his fortunate absence, would have been imprisoned. It is probable that he did not venture
back into Spain for many years, until he had covered his sins with the protecting
robes of the Church.

He remained in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 for over 20 years and built a reputation as an artist. His only surviving works from that period are the frescoes he painted in the Bonfili chapel at the Santa Trinità dei Monti church in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

He returned to Spain in 1577, and was appointed as the canon of the Córdoba cathedral. He continued to write books on antiquarian topics such as the architecture of the temple of Solomon. He befriended Arias Montano. In 1604 he composed his Discourse of Ancient and Modern Painting and Sculpture in which he recounts anecdotes of Renaissance masters of Italy.

External links

• Short biography from Notable Names Database