02 — ARTIST
PEREDA, Antonio de
b. 1611 Valladolid · d. 1678 Madrid · Baroque
BIOGRAPHY
Spanish painter, active mainly in Madrid. He began as a history painter - his Relief of Genoa (Prado, Madrid, 1635) was painted for the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid as part of the same series as Velázquez's Surrender of Breda - but he is now best known for his still-lifes. The most famous painting associated with him is The Knight's Dream (also called The Dream of Life or Life is a Dream, Academy, Madrid, c. 1650), a splendidly sensuous composition, full of brilliantly painted still-life details, in which worldly pleasures and treasures are seen to be as insubstantial as a dream. It was a key work in the development of the moralizing still-life in Spain, influencing Valdés Leal in particular. However, the attribution to Pereda has recently been questioned, and Francisco de Palacios (1622/5-52) has been suggested as the author.
WORKS IN ARCHIVE
12 OF 15 RECORDS
- Allegory 1654
- St Anthony of Padua with Christ Child 1650
- St Anthony of Padua with Christ Child (detail) 1650
- St Dominic 1650
- St Jerome 1643
- Stiil-life with a Pendulum 1652
- Still-Life with Fruit 1650
- Still-Life with an Ebony Chest 1652
- The Holy Trinity 1650
- The Knight's Dream 1650
- The Knight's Dream (detail) 1650
- The Liberation of St Peter by an Angel 1643
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-pereda-antonio-de,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {PEREDA, Antonio de},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-09},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/pereda-antonio-de-r852f0a1cb7de0c},
urldate = {2026-09-09},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-09. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.