Juan Conchillos Falco

Miracle of the tear by Juan Conchillos Falco, Monastery Santa Faz, Alicante

Juan Conchillos Falco (1641 – 14 May 1711) was a Spanish painter.

Life

Falco was born in 1641 at Valencia, Spain of an ancient noble family.

He was a pupil of Esteban March, the Valencian painter. He was one of the first Spanish artists to start and maintain a school of design, gathering about him young artists and insisting they work in charcoal in order to obtain freedom of draughtsmanship. He was a brilliant sketcher and in his journeys made some clever and humorous pencil drawings of scenes which took place on the road. Falco had a keen sense of humour, and he is described by his contemporaries as "the most amiable of men, humble, modest, a model of virtue, and altogether of the stuff whereof angels are made".

He was suddenly struck with palsy and became a confirmed cripple. Soon after that he lost his sight and died completely blind on 14 May 1711.

Works

Two of his most important works were those executed for the church of San Salvador in Valencia; others are the "Immaculate Conception", painted for the Franciscans in the same city, the frescoes in the church of San Juan, and the two altar-pieces of the Cistercian monastery of Valdigna.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Juan Conchillos Falco". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.