Juan de las Roelas (1558–1625) was a Spanish painter of the late-Renaissance and early-Baroque, active in Seville.
Juan de las Roelas, called El Clerigo Roelas and El Licenciado Juan, and by Palomino Doctor Pablo, was descended from a noble family, of Flemish origin. He was born at Seville between the years 1658 and 1660, and was brought up to the profession of physic, in which he had already taken a degree, when an inclination for the art of painting, which he had manifested in the early part of his life, induced him to devote himself to its study, and he travelled to Italy for the purpose of improvement. He went to Venice, where he studied for some years. Palomino says that he was a scholar of Titian, but as Titian died in 1576, when Roelas was only sixteen years of age, it is more probable that he received his instruction from a disciple of that great master.
On his return to Seville, he was much employed in the churches of that city, where there are many pictures by hina, which have been compared to the works of Palma and Tintoretto. To rich and harmonious colouring, which he had acquired in the Venetian School, he added correct drawing and perfect acquaintance with the anatomy of the human figure. One of his most admired works is the 'Martyrdom of St. Andrew,' in the College of St. Thomas. He went as a canon to Olivares in 1624, but whether he ever practised as a physician is not stated.
His pictures are very numerous in Seville. His masterpiece is the 'Death of St. Isidore,' in the church of San Isidore; another fine picture by him is the 'St. James,' in the chapel of that saint in the cathedral, in which the saint is represented riding over the Moors. Cean Bermudez says it is full of fire, majesty, and decorum. Ford, however, says that it is surpassed by the picture of the 'Conception,' in the Academy, and by three in the chapel of the University at Seville. Roelas has been compared with Tintoretto and Carracci, and is certainly the best of the Andalusian painters. It is a subject of regret that none of his fine works have been engraved, as he excelled in design and composition, and displayed a grandeur of form and character which belong only to the greatest masters. He died at Olivares in 1625.
This article incorporates text from the article "DE LAS ROELAS, Juan" in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers by Michael Bryan, edited by Robert Edmund Graves and Sir Walter Armstrong, an 1886–1889 publication now in the public domain. The Paintings of Francisco de Herrera the Elder, by John S. Thacher. The Art Bulletin (1937). page 328.