Enrique Simonet was born on February 2, 1866 in Valencia. Apparently his first vocation was ecclesiastical, but he left to devote himself to painting. Despite being Valencian by birth and studying at the School of Fine Arts of San Carlos in his hometown, he was linked to the circle of Malaga both for his early arrival, as for his family background, his artistic training and his professional activity in the city of Malaga. And he also studied in the workshop of the Valencian Bernardo Ferrándiz in Málaga, forming part of the so-called Malaga school of painting.
In 1887, he went to Rome as a pensioner, where he made The Beheading of Saint Paul, today in the Cathedral of Malaga, taking advantage of his stay to in turn travel throughou...