Osorio Francisco Meneses

Spanish painter, b. at Seville, 1630; d. probably in the same place, 1705. It is extraordinary that so very little is known of his history. He was not only a pupil of Murillo, but by far the most perfect of his imitators, and undoubtedly many of the works commonly attributed to the master came from the brush of his pupil. We know that he was regarded by Murillo as his triend, that he was an intimate acquaintance of Juan Garzon, with whom he worked that he was at one time secretary and later on president of the Academy of Sevillo, and that while in that city he had a high reputation, not only for his skill, but also for his personal devoutness. This reputation, it is said, was somewhat discounted after his death, because it was considered that some of his copies of Murillo's works were so accurate that he should have signed the master's name. It was in fact suggested that two of his copies had been accepted as genuine works by Murillo. On the other hand, these statements are declared by one Spanish author to have been made only with a view of discrediting Meneses. His principal work was painted for the church of Saint Martin at Madrid, and represents the Prophet Elijah. There is a fine work by him in the museum at Cadiz and in the museum at Seville, a picture dealing with the Order of St. Francis. A work representing St Catherine, which is preserved at Cadiz, is said to have had a special devotion for St. Philip Neri, and to have been buried in the church dedicated to that saint.

QUILLET, Dictionaire des Peintres Espagnols (Paris, 1816); PALOMINO DE CASTRO Y VELASCO, El Mundo Pictorico y Escala (Madrid, 1715); MAXWELL, Annals of the Artists of Spain (London, 1848); HUARD, Vie Complete des Peintres Espagnols (Paris, 1839).

GEORGE CHARLES WILLIAMSON