painter of the Spanish Mannerist school. He studied in Italy, mostly in Venice, where he was influenced by Sebastiano del Piombo, Tintoretto, and Titian. In 1568 he was appointed painter to the king, who chose him (1576) to play a major role in the decoration of El Escorial monastery, near Madrid; of the 32 altarpieces commissioned for the monastery, only eight were completed at the time of his death.