Juan Valdés Leal was a Spanish artist who was a contemporary of Murillo and his biggest pictorial rival in Seville. He was known for his harsh and dramatic verism, in contrast to Murillo's gentleness.

Valdés Leal worked on all kinds of religious themes and was especially known for his paintings of vanitas. He likely trained as an artist in his native city before moving to Córdoba.

In 1656, he settled in Seville, where he spent most of his life. Valdez Leal was one of the founders of the Academy of Drawing in Seville, and became its president in 1663. Valdés Leal was also a member of the Brotherhood of Charity in Seville and worked as an architect on the ephemeral decorations that the Seville cathedral had installed to ce...