Juan de Roelas was a very important figure in the transition from Romanesque Mannerism to naturalistic tenebrism which marked the early Baroque at the beginning of the 17th century. His biography places him between the 16th and 17th century. His style seems to suggest that he studied in Italy although there are no documents that prove a stay in the country. The first information about his life dates from 1598 when he was recorded as working in Valladolid on the commemorative acts held to mark the death of Philip II, collaborating on the design of the funeral monument. He worked in Valladolid until 1604 when he obtained a favour from the Count-Duke of Olivares. As a result he came under the protection of the nobleman and worked in Olivares, a charming town very close to Seville which has a beautiful collegiate church and a number of other important churches. There, Roelas painted various large altar paintings. In 1606 he painted the Circumcision and the [Martyrdom of Saint Andrew#CUADROS#1972], which is in the Museo de Bellas Artes in Seville. In 1613 he painted the Death of Saint Isidoro. The following year, by now a cleric, he was named royal chaplain which is why he moved to Madrid a couple of years later. There he hoped to make a career for himself as a painter. However, despite all his efforts he did not manage to gain the title of painter to the king and as a result he returned to Olivares. He spent his last years devoted to his religious post as canon of the collegiate church of Olivares and information about this period of his life is scarce. In 1625 he died and was buried in there. Roelas' pictorial style is grounded in his supposed Italian training. Although as has been said there is no documentary evidence, the features of his style make it almost certain that Roelas came into contact with the Venetian School as his warm colouring and balanced compositions are evocative of Veronese and Tintoretto whose paintings he must have seen in situ. Having learnt the Italianesque style of Late Mannerism Roelas introduced lighting effects borrowed from Bassano which make his work easily recognisable. At the same time he became a magnificent portrayer of everyday life, completing his religious compositions with very ordinary elements that were criticised by other artists of the time (such as Francisco Pacheco). Roelas was able to mix strength with gentleness, incorporating studying from life, which is why he is thought to represent the transition between the artifice of Mannerism and the naturalistic reality of the early Spanish Baroque. He was also responsible for spreading the use of a type of altar painting which is divided into two juxtaposed halves, the upper part representing the divine world and the lower section capturing the earthly world. This division is typically mannerist and it had already been used by El Greco to great effect. This division of the canvas was particularly successful in Andalusia. Despite the brilliance of his style, the complex mixture of pictorial features meant that his light, skilful style did not create a school in the region although he had numerous disciples, including the Sevillian artist Francisco Varela and Pablo Legot who was from Luxembourg.