Alonso Cano was born at Granada, on the 17th of March 1601, and was baptized in the parish church of San Ildefonso, where the register of his baptism may still be seen. His father, Miguel Cano, was a carver of retablos, and it was with him that the young Cano learnt the rudiments of his art. Before long his talent gained the notice of the painter Juan del Castillo, who recommended the removal of the Cano family to Seville for the sake of better instruction. Cano entered for eight months the studio of Francisco Pacho, where he learnt painting, having for his fellow-student Velazquez. Afterwards he became the assistant of Juan del Castillo. In sculpture he was the pupil of Montañés, and for several years he worked under his guidance. There seems to have been a great friendship between the master and pupil. Cano’s debt to Montañés was very great, and his early works in Seville, executed under the direction of the master, are proof of how completely he assimilated his style. Cano’s earliest sculptured works were three retablos, designed, carved, and painted, one for the College of San Alberto, and two for the Conventual Church of Santa Paula. Zurbaran and Pacheco were employed with Cano in executing the altar-screen of San Alberto, and Cean Bermudez tells us that his work surpassed theirs in merit. In the execution of the two altar-screens for Santa Paula he was helped by Gaspar de Ribas, who worked with him under the direction of Montañés. These screens remain in the Church of Santa Paula--one over the altar of St. John the Baptist, the other over that of St. John the Evangelist. They are pieces of harmonious work, altogether praiseworthy, which show Cano’s combined power as architect, sculptor, painter, and damask worker. The finer is the altar of St. John the Baptist. The statue of the prophet and a bas-relief representing the Baptism of Christ are at either side, and between a beautiful representation of figures carrying the head of St. John on a charger; then to right and left, between the columns, are placed statues of the Saints, and these surmount figures of the Virtues and Cherubim. The hand of a master is seen everywhere. Besides the altar-screens of Santa Paula, there are a few good carvings that belong to this period of Cano’s youth. There is a Conception in the nunnery of Santa Paula, placed over the doorway, and a second, and perhaps finer, Conception is in the parish church of San Andrés, and there is also in the same church a very beautiful Child Jesus, unfortunately dressed in a satin robe which quite hides the body. These statues are all good, and indeed might be ascribed to Montañés except for a weakness in the modelling of the nude portions, a fault which Cano afterwards overcame. The few other carvings in Seville that are ascribed to Cano are less certainly by him, and are works of little interest.