Cano

Cano, ALONSO, a Spanish painter, born at Granada in 1601, received his first instructions in the principles of art from his father, who was an architect, and attained celebrity so early that in 1638 or 1639 he was appointed court painter and architect to the king. Cano was of a hasty temper, and was accused of having murdered his wife in a fit of jealousy, but the accusation appears to have been quite groundless. He was subjected to the torture; but no confession having been elicited, he was acquitted and received again into the royal favour, named residentiary of Granada, and spent his last years in acts of devotion and charity. He died 3d October 1667. In Fuseli's opinion, he excelled all his contemporaries except Velasquez. His eminence in the three departments of the fine arts—sculpture, painting, and architecture—obtained for him the hyperbolical title of the 'Spanish Michael Angelo.' His pictures, marked by graceful design and pleasing colouring, are very numerous, and are preserved in Granada, Seville, Madrid, Malaga, and other Spanish cities.