Miguel Melero Rodríguez (1836 - 1907)

This Cuban painter and sculptor was born in the island’s capital in 1836. He began studying art in Cuba and later also in Paris under the guidance of Frenchmen Leclerc and Miahle and the Italian Morelli. An art teacher at the El Salvador school, Rodríguez later traveled through Spain, France and Italy in furtherance of his artistic studies.

When in 1868 the Independence War broke out, Melero’s pension was suspended and consequently he had to return home to Cuba. He ran for and won the directorship of San Alejandro, as the Academy of Fine Arts was known. He was the first Cuban to do so. Through this position he was able to influence Cuban art and stimulate certain changes at this academy of art and one of the most important was allowing women, who until that time were banned, to study there. This was a bold move that hadn’t even been done in France yet.

Some famous works by this Cuban artist include Santa Teresa de Jesús in the church of San Felipe in Havana, Colón in the Counsel of Salamanca, Jesús y Margarita de Alacoque, Un pintor de Luis XIV (a painter of Luis XIV) and Un Cardenal (a cardenal), among others.