Spanish poet, painter, sculptor, and architect.

Céspedes was educated at Alcalá de Henares, where he studied theology and Oriental languages. On leaving the university he went to Rome. In 1560, while in Rome, proceedings were taken against him by the Inquisition at Valladolid, but they were dropped. He returned to Spain a little before 1577 and received a prebend of the Cathedral at Córdoba, where he lived until his death. Cristobal de Vera, Juan de Peñalosa, and Zambrano were among his pupils. His “Last Supper” at Córdoba was much admired in his time. Céspedes was the author of several prose pieces on subjects connected with his profession. His poem “The Art of Painting,” containing a glowing eulogy of Michelangelo, is considered among the best didactic verse in Spanish. The few remaining fragments were first printed by Francisco Pacheco in his treatise Del arte de la pintura (“On the Art of Painting”) in 1649.