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.

• 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 1757 he was able to study in Rome.

• He returned to Spain in 1765 and participated in the remodeling of the Palacio Real de Madrid under the direction of Anton Raphael Mengs.

• In Madrid he was appointed a court painter in 1774.

• He also worked at La Granja de San Ildefonso, the Palacio de El Pardo and the Palacio de El Escorial as well.

• In addition, he restored works by Juan de Borgoña at the Cathedral of Toledo.

• From 1795 to 1798, following the death of Francisco Bayeu, he served as Director General of the Academia.

• 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.

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