de Pereda, Antonio

Antonio de Pereda

Bio

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Antonio de Pereda was a Spanish artist (born 1611, Valladolid; died 1678, Madrid). He began as a history painter and was mainly active in Madrid. His Relief of Genoa (1635,Prado, Madrid) was painted for the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid as part of the same series as Velázquez’s Surrender of Breda. He is now best known for his still-lifes. The most famous painting associated with him is The Knight’s Dream (also called The Dream of Life or Life is a Dream, (c. 1650, Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid), a splendidly sensuous composition, full of brilliantly painted still-life details, in which worldly pleasures and treasures are seen to be as insubstantial as a dream. It was a key work in the development of the moralizing still-life in Spain, influencing Valdés Leal in particular. However, the attribution to Pereda has recently been questioned, and Francisco de Palacios (1622/5-52) has been suggested as the author.