Juan Manuel Blanes, (born June 8, 1830, Montevideo, Uruguay—died April 15, 1901, Pisa, Italy), Uruguayan painter known for his paintings of historical events in South America and his depictions of gaucho life.

Blanes was born into a turbulent period in Uruguayan history. Although the country had been independent since 1828, it was politically unstable and fell into civil war from 1843 to 1851. The dramatic events of Uruguayan history and the history of other South American nations, including Argentina and Chile, would provide Blanes with the subject matter that would occupy his career.

He was largely self-taught as an artist. During the civil war, he worked as a typographer’s assistant at the newspaper El Defensor de la Ind...