(b Alcal? de Henares, c. 1500; d Alcal? de Henares, 1579-80). Spanish silversmith. He was the son of the silversmith Juan Faraz, who worked for the Colegio Mayor de S Ildefonso in Alcal? de Henares. Francisco was apprenticed to his father and continued to work for him until the death of the latter. He made use of Renaissance-style baluster structures in his pieces, although the grotesque ornamentation on other pieces is close to Mannerism. Several of his silver objects are preserved, for example parts of the cross of Miraflores de la Sierra (1549; London, V&A), with a stand fashioned by Antonio Fern?ndez Cantero in 1715; the cross of El Casar de Talamanca (before 1546; Madrid, Mus. N. A. Dec.); the processional crosses of Mond?jar (1545) and Buitrago (1546); the macollas of El Casar (before 1546; Ja?n Cathedral) and Pastrana (1552); the receptacle for unconsecrated hosts (c. 1554; Madrid, C. Y. Col.); a chalice (1560-64; parish church of Vi?uelas, Guadalajara); and a splendid bowl with a border of medallions (London, V&A). About 20 documented pieces by Francisco made between July 1538, when he was commissioned to execute the cross of Rascafr?a (his first known piece) and his execution of the cross of Pezuela de las Torres, which was paid for in 1579, have not survived. His brother Antonio Faraz (b Alcal? de Henares, c. 1510; d 1576) produced works that are different in form and decoration from those of Juan Francisco. Antonio Faraz made the processional crosses of Caspue?as, La Mierla and Pioz. His monstrance for Balconete is the earliest-known radial type of monstrance in Spain.
See the Abbreviations for further details.
