Mariano Salvador Maella Pérez (1739 – 1819),

was a Spanish painter known primarily for his portraits and religious frescoes.  Maella was born in Valencia. His artistic education began with his father, who was also a painter. In 1752, at the age of eleven, he moved to Madrid and received lessons from Felipe de Castro, a sculptor who helped introduce the Neoclassical style to Spain. This was followed by enrollment at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where he attracted the attention of Antonio González Velázquez (whose daughter he would later marry). In 1799, he and Francisco Goya were named as primary court painters and he began to work on the restoration of several Royal sites. He died, aged 79, in Madrid.