Juan Fernández de Navarrete was born in Logroño around 1538 and died on 28 March 1579 at the age of 51. He became deaf at the age of three, which is why he is also known as "el Mudo" (the Mute). Unable to speak or hear and with no formal education, he began to communicate with his family by drawing objects with a piece of charcoal on paper. His family was wealthy and sent him to the Monastery of La Estrella in La Rioja to receive an education. One of the friars who taught him was his art teacher, Fray Vicente de Santo Domingo. After leaving the monastery, he travelled to Italy to study great artists such as Titian, Sebastiano del Piombo, Tintoretto and others. Navarrete was known as the Spanish Mannerist.
In 1568, King Philip II appointed Navarrete "el Mudo" as the king's chamber painter who painted several religious pictures in the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid).
The painting The Holy Family with Saint Joachim and Saint Anne (1575) is one of Navarrete's most important works. In the lower part of the painting a cat, a dog and a partridge can be distinguished. It is thought that the black and white cat represented the King and the white dog the King's secretary, while the partridge represents Navarrete walking away from the argument between the cat and the dog.
In the centre it shows the Virgin Mary gazing at the child Jesus while Joseph gazes admiringly over Mary's shoulder. At the same time, Mary's parents, Saint Joachim (behind Mary) and Saint Anne (next to Mary) are also looking at Mary with the infant Jesus.
The clothing of the figures and the drapery of the canopy are folded and crumpled in different shades of colour. On the left-hand side of the painting there is a small window through which light enters and illuminates the whole room. A dark figure is silhouetted behind Saint Anne, although it is very difficult to detect. The whole painting is full of rich, bright colours that complement each other. When the king saw this painting, he made Navarrete promise never again to add animals to any of his paintings.
