A pupil of Houasse in Madrid between 1726–30, he travelled to Paris, Rome and Naples at his own expense, completing his education there. Upon his return in 1737, he became acquainted with the court milieu, worked for the Palace and, from 1744, was a member of the Preparatory Board for the foundation of the Royal Academy of Noble Arts. He married a daughter of the engraver Juan Bernabé Palomino, nephew of painter and theoretician Antonio Palomino, who undoubtedly exerted a notable influence on his early work. In 1756, he was appointed Court Painter. His activity in his mature years was centred on the Academy, where he attained the position of General Director in 1769, and the Royal Tapestry Factory, for which he supplied cartoons. He was a skilful portraitist and a prolific and facile drawer. Therefore, it is necessary to study his work, which remains little known, since in addition to certain late Baroque devices, it demonstrates evident echoes of Mengs’s classicism and a superior quality than many of his more renowned contemporaries. The numerous drawings that have now been identified reveal an undoubtable mastery and a definite French echo (Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E.: Catálogo de Dibujos. II. Dibujos Españoles. Siglo XVIII (C-Z), Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1977, p. 35).