José Nicolás de la Escalera

Who was José Nicolás de la Escalera?

José Nicolás de la Escalera was a Cuban painter. Little is known about him; he appears to have been self-trained, and his work bears some resemblance to that of the eighteenth-century Andalusian school, especially paintings by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Most of his work was religious in nature, but he is recorded as having painted portraits as well. He worked mainly in oils. Several of his works may still be seen in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana in Havana.