Navarrete, Juan Fernández

Navarrete, Juan Fernández (hwän fārnän`dĕth nävärā`tā), 1526–79, Spanish religious painter, called El Mudo [the mute]. He studied in a monastery and later in Italy, perhaps with Titian. In 1568 he became court painter to Philip II, for whom he enriched the Escorial with eight fine altarpieces, among them Nativity, Abraham and the Three Angels (Escorial), and Baptism (now in the Prado). Through Navarrete, Venetian influence reached Spain. His later works combine sketchy distances with rich color and realistic foreground effects.