Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) was a leading Spanish painter of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Born in Valencia in 1863 but orphaned as an infant, he was raised by an aunt who recognised and encouraged his precocious artistic talent.
He was studying drawing by eleven, painting at the Academy in Valencia in his late teens, and soon exhibiting in Madrid.
Not yet 21, his first large history painting was acquired by the Spanish government in 1884.