Pedro de Villegas Marmolejo

Who was Pedro de Villegas Marmolejo?

Pedro de Villegas Marmolejo was a Spanish sculptor and painter of the Renaissance period.

He was born at Seville, but studied painting from either Roman or Flemish models. He painted a Visitation to Elizabeth for the Seville Cathedral which resembles the manner of Pedro Campaña. In the side compartments of the altar there are various smaller works of Villegas, representing San Blas and The Baptism of Christ, St. Sebastian and St. Roque; above, in the arch, there is an Infant Jesus in glory; and immediately beneath the Visitation are some small portraits touched with a sparkling and animated pencil. He likewise painted, for the Hospital of the Lazarines, just outside of Seville, St. Lazarus. He painted for the church of San Lorenzo an Annunciation and a Virgin and Child. His tomb bears this inscription from his close friend and polymath, Benito Arias Montano :