Sánchez Coello, Alonso

Sánchez Coello, Alonso (b Benifaió, nr. Valencia, ?1531/2; d Madrid, 8 Aug. 1588).
Spanish painter of Portuguese parentage, principally a portraitist. He studied under Anthonis Mor in Flanders in the early 1550s and from 1559 worked at the court of Philip II of Spain (see Habsburg), becoming a personal favourite of the king, who was godfather to his two daughters. His dignified and sober style was strongly influenced by Mor, but was more sensuous, showing his admiration for Titian, and he is regarded as the founder of the great tradition of Spanish formal portraiture. He also painted religious works, but these are much less distinguished.