He was from a family of painters and the most sucessful of them. His later career was spent doing large commissions for the Spainish Church. In the beginning however, his studio was quite prolific doing scenes of street urchins, a subject that may have appealed to him since he was orphaned at the age of nine. A great many of them were produced probably as copies of his originals by apprentices for export trade to the Spainish colonies.

The paintings shown are two of three from an estate in Florida. They are on canvas, 121/8"X141/8" and are among the oldest canvases ever in my possesion, judging by the age characteristics of their stretchers and canvas can easily believed to be 17th century in origin. The pigments used in the skin tones are right for a Spainish origin. The execution is very fine, much finer than the many later copies seen of these works but obviously not as fine as the recognized originals that they recreate, which would be worth millions. Their fine nature and age and origin make them likely from the studio of the master as part of his export trade. They are presented in gilded and patinated arboral frames with a Spainish feel that have been custom created for them (valued at $1,000 each) .

Price: :$7500 for the pair.                     Purchase