ZACARIAS GONZÁLEZ VELÁZQUEZ (Madrid, 1763 - 1863)"Saint Raphael".Oil on canvas.It presents

ZACARIAS GONZÁLEZ VELÁZQUEZ (Madrid, 1763 - 1863)
"Saint Raphael".
Oil on canvas.
It presents restorations.
Measurements: 110 x 77 cm.
Devotional image that presents us the archangel Saint Raphael, who appears in a simple and clear composition, perfectly didactic in front of the spectator and in full body. In the foreground, he appears holding the fish, which hangs from one of his hands, while with the other he holds the pilgrim's staff. The artist worked on the depiction of the archangels for the decoration of the decorative pendentives of the Royal Oratory of the Caballero de Gracia in Madrid, the predatory drawings being part of the collection of the Madrid History Museum. Thus consolidating an iconographic pattern in which the figure of the archangel is presented as here, through the figure of a young man with rounded forms and rosy cheeks. In this case Saint Raphael is wearing a headband, as in the preparatory drawing of the pendentives, although the colour of his clothing is different and the way in which he holds his greatest attribute, the fish, also differs from the aforementioned drawing.
The son, brother, brother-in-law and father of painters, Zacarías González Velázquez's career was closely linked to the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, of which he became director general in 1828. The influence of his family's artists and that of the Academy, together with his courtly career, were the two key factors in the development of his life and work. Zacarías joined the San Fernando Academy in 1777 under the guidance of his father. That year he began his training and the following year he was awarded first prize in the second class of painting. His successful studies were completed in 1782, and from then on he accepted a series of private commissions, including the series of paintings of the life of Saint Francis executed in 1787 for the church of San Francisco el Grande in Madrid. The eighteen-eighties were a period of intense work for Zacarías González Velázquez, culminating in his appointment as an academician of San Fernando in 1790. He was subsequently appointed assistant professor, a post he held from 1793 to 1807. During these full years he achieved the post of Honorary Chamber Painter in 1801, and in the following year he was made a Pinto de Cámara Numerario. By then he had already executed his most important works in fresco, including the Chapel of San Isidro in Madrid (1789) and the Royal Oratory of the Caballero de Gracia in the same city (1792). In the early years of the 19th century he executed the frescoes of the Casa del Labrador in the Escorial and the King's Room in the Palace of Aranjuez. He also executed important religious commissions, as well as portraits of his family and himself, the royal family and some of the most distinguished gentlemen of the time. In 1807 he was appointed lieutenant director of painting at San Fernando, although his career at the Academy was paralysed by the French invasion and the War of Independence. During this period Zacarías González Velázquez remained in Madrid, joining the Pintores de Cámara of Joseph I, although after the return of Ferdinand VII he had no problems rejoining the service of the monarch. Thanks to the protection of the Infante Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, his career continued to rise.