Sánchez Cotán, Juan

Sánchez Cotán, Juan

“Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber,” oil on canvas by Juan Sánchez …

(credit: San Diego Museum of Art, gift of Anne R. and Amy Putnam)

(born 1561, Orgaz, Spain—died Sept. 8, 1627, Granada) Spanish painter. Profoundly religious, he was influenced early by the spirit of Catholic mysticism that dominated the intellectual life of Toledo, where he was a still-life painter. He entered a monastery in 1603 and remained a Carthusian lay brother until his death. Though his religious paintings are not exceptional, his still lifes are considered among the best produced in Europe; their detailed realism, visual harmony, and illusion of depth convey humility and mystic spirituality. His concern with the relationships among objects and with achieving the illusion of reality through the use of light and shadow was a major influence on the work of Francisco de Zurbarán and other later Spanish painters.