Antonio Fernández Arias

Who was Antonio Fernández Arias?

Antonio Fernández Arias was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period.

He was a precocious pupil of Pedro de las Cuevas, and employed at the age of 11 years to help in painting the main altar of chapel of Carmen Calzado de Toledo. By 22 years, he was one of the more prized painters in Madrid, employed by the Conde-Duque de Olivares along with Francisco Camilo and Alonso Cano to paint the portraits in the Hall of the Kings of the Royal Palace of Madrid. He never lacked commissions, he painted 11 paintings for the cloister of the convent of Agustines at San Felipe el Real, in which he represented among other topics, the Passion of Christ and the Baptism of Saint Cines. He painted Sts. Peter, Paul, John, and other saints for the order of Agonizantes de la calle de Fuencarral. Arias died poor in the general hospital of Madrid.