(b Logroño, c.1538; d Toledo, 28 Mar. 1579). Spanish painter, called ‘El Mudo’ (the mute) because he was deaf and dumb. He spent several years in Italy (where according to Palomino he was a pupil of Titian) and returned to Spain in about 1565. In 1568 he was appointed a court painter to Philip II (see Habsburg) and he spent most of the rest of his life painting altarpieces for the Escorial. His work was important in spreading Italian influence in Spain.
Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)
