 His initial art studies were with a local master, José Luzán (who had studied with Francesco Solimena in Naples), Antonio González Velázquez, for whom he worked as an assistant, and .In 1758, when Francisco received a scholarship to study in Madrid, at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, his siblings followed; having been orphaned.González, who was then living in Madrid, helped support the family.