Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz was born into a poor family in Zaragoza, Spain. Shortly after being accepted to the local Institute of Zaragoza, he was unable to pay for his own supplies and tuition and had to end his studies there. Pradilla joined the workshop of the stage scenery painter Mariano Pescador. The work gave him the much needed money to attend the Fine Arts School in the Academia di San Luis in Zaragoza and, eventually, to move to Madrid in 1863.
There, he continued to make a living painting scenery for theatres. His ambition and talent eventually won him a place in the School of Painting and Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. In addition to his classwork, the records of the Prado show that, beginning in 1869, he regularly visited the collection in order to copy Old Master paintings. Pradilla was heavily influenced by Velázquez, Titian, El Greco and Ribera, all of whom are well represented in the Prado Collection. Even late in life, he regularly copied Old Master paintings in order to improve his own. This was accompanied by his lifelong dedication to the study of Greek and Roman texts, along with Spanish historical documents which inspired many of his paintings. He was well-known for having a large library of rare books and an ability to speak several languages.
Pradilla was among the first group of students given government scholarships to study at the new Spanish Academy in Rome, founded in 1873, but opening to students in 1874. The Spanish School in Rome would become the most important centre for artistic training for Spanish painters in Italy and Pradilla would become one of its most influential students (1874-77) and teachers (1877-96). The culmination of each student’s study at the Spanish Academy in Rome was a large, multi-figural history painting. In Pradilla’s case, his final painting, Doña Juana La Loca (Joanna the Mad), for the Academy was an internationally-praised work, touring several European nations as a masterpiece. While a student, Pradilla travelled extensively, visiting Venice, Florence, Milan, Pisa, Paris, and six cities in Germany.
He returned to Madrid shortly before the end of January 1897, after being named Director of the Prado Museum. He held that post until August 1898, when he resigned in order to dedicate himself totally to painting in a large studio at his neo-Arabic home along the Paseo de Rosales. Pradilla lived in this house for the rest of his life, and died there on 1 November 1921.
By the end of his life, Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz had served as the Director of the Prado Museum, won numerous international awards, including the French Legion of Honor, and held the position of the Director of the Spanish Academy in Rome. He is best remembered for having taught the painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida in Rome, and for galvanising a new generation of history painters in Spain. Retrospectives of his life and works were held in Madrid (1948 and 1985) and Zaragoza (1985). Three of his major works are now held in the Prado, but the majority are held in private hands or regional museums and government buildings, especially in his native Zaragoza.