18th century Spanish school.Portrait of Fernando Escobedo.Oil on canvas.With information in the

18th century Spanish school.
"Portrait of Fernando Escobedo".
Oil on canvas.
With information in the lower area on the gentleman.
It shows slight deterioration.
Measurements: 206 x 110 cm; 216 x 121 cm (frame).
Juan de Escobedo, secretary of Juan de Austria, was born in Colindres (Cantabria) in 1530 and died in Madrid in 1578.
Under the protection of Ruy Gómez de Silva, Prince of Eboli, he was appointed secretary to the Treasury Council by King Philip II, and in 1569 he was appointed warden of the castle of San Felipe and the Royal Houses of Santander.
In 1574 he was recommended by Antonio Pérez, the king's secretary, to occupy the post of personal secretary to Don Juan de Austria. This choice, made initially with the intention of keeping an eye on Don Juan, proved unsuccessful as he became one of the most loyal supporters of the then governor of the Netherlands. During this period he gathered evidence of the illicit dealings and support for the Flemish rebels of Pérez and Ana de Mendoza de la Cerda, Princess of Eboli, and was denounced by the latter to the King as an instigator of Don Juan's political manoeuvres.
When Escobedo threatened Antonio Pérez with divulging his conspiracy unless he supported the pretensions of Don Juan of Austria in the Low Countries, and fearing that he would be denounced, he ordered his assassination on 31 March 1578. Pérez was tried a year later, fleeing first to Aragon to take refuge in his own charter and then across the border to France, but his death sentence could not be carried out.
This murky incident of intrigue and conspiracy, one of the darkest of the reign of Philip II and one which has subsequently come to involve the king himself, has been linked to the fact that Don Juan and Escobedo, once the major problems in the Low Countries had been resolved favourably, wrote to the king, telling him of their desire to return to Spain to take charge of the monarch's policy in view of his success. Antonio Pérez, fearful that his double-dealing would be discovered, and manipulating the monarch in his favour, took the opportunity of Juan de Escobedo's return to court to order his death by hired assassins just a few blocks from the old royal palace in Madrid.
Today there is a plaque on the corner of what is now Calle de la Almudena and Calle Mayor, very close to Calle de Bailén, which commemorates this event and reads: "In this street they killed the secretary of Don Juan de Austria, Juan de Escobedo, on 31 March 1578, the night of Easter Monday".