Spanish painter and draughtsman, son of Alejandro Carnicero, a sculptor. His younger brother Isidro (1736-1804) was a sculptor and painter, who became a director of the Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid. He arrived at the Court in Madrid with his father in 1749 and took part in the competitions held by the Real Academia de S Fernando, winning second prize in 1769 with the Coronation of Alfonso XI and Queen Mary in the Monastery of Huelgas de Burgos (Museo de la Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid). In 1760 he won a scholarship to Rome, subsequently winning prizes from the Accademia di S Luca. On his return to Madrid in 1766 he worked as a portrait painter, producing works such as the portrait of Dona Tomasa de Aliaga, Widow of Salcedo (Madrid, Prado). In 1788 he was elected an honorary member of S Fernando. Under the protection of the Spanish prime minister, Manuel Godoy, Príncipe de la Paz, whom he painted on several occasions (e.g. Portrait of Godoy, Museo de la Real Academia de San Fernando, Madrid), and after painting the portraits of Charles IV and Maria Luisa (both Madrid, Monasterio de la Encarnación), he was appointed Pintor de Cámara in 1796. In 1798 he applied unsuccessfully for the post of drawing-master to the Prince of Asturias, the future Ferdinand VII, although by 1806 he was teacher of the Infante Princes. He was a refined draughtsman and prepared illustrations for the editions of Cervantes's El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha published by the Real Academia Espanola (Madrid, 1780; 1782). He also made the drawings for the handsome engravings (Madrid, Calcografía N.) of the Real Picadero (Royal Riding School). In addition to his portraiture, which displays a talent for realism and wit, although at times combined with slightly garish colours, Carnicero executed attractive and descriptive 'costumbrista' paintings, depicting everyday life, popular gatherings and hunting scenes, for instance Duck Shooting on the Albufera, Valencia (c. 1802; Madrid, Palacio Real). His landscapes are less intuitive and appear rather schematic. One of his best-known narrative paintings is the Ascent of a Montgolfier Balloon in Aranjuez (c. 1783-90; Madrid, Prado), in which his descriptive method is evident. //