3-097-705 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Alonso Martínez de Espinar (?), 17th century. Spanish courtier, writer, ballestero (royal crossbowman) and arquebusier Alonso Martínez de Espinar (c1594-1682), was chamberlain to Prince Baltasar Carlos and to the monarch himself. His duties included accompanying Philip IV on hunts and handing him his arquebus. Highly skilled in hunting, he wrote and published "Arte de la ballestería y montería" (Art of Crossbowmanship and Hunting - 1644), in which he meticulously describes various hunting techniques, including hunting with nets. The painter himself owned a copy of this book in his library.