In 1611, the Dominicans of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo were looking for an artist to paint an altarpiece for their new church. The city’s most famous artist, El Greco, was approaching 70 and the friars wanted a new look for their new building, so they hired a young artist who had just returned from Rome versed in the revolutionary style of religious realism pioneered by Caravaggio.

Juan Bautista Maíno (1581-1649) is little known outside Spain, but the National Gallery has been hoping to change that with “Maíno’s Adorations: Heaven on Earth” (until 29 January), a special room display of two large paintings from the altarpiece, timed to coincide with the exhibition “Beyond Caravaggio” (until 15 January).

Maíno is something of a mystery figure. No paintings survive from the six years he spent in Italy, and the only document to confirm his presence in Rome records the baptism of a natural son, Francesco, in 1605. There was nothing particularly unusual in this – Velázquez fathered a son in Rome half a century later – though it could have been embarrassing for an artist who was later to enter the Dominican Order.

The contract for the altarpiece, signed in 1612, stipulated that it should be completed in eight months – an optimistic timescale for a major scheme of four monumental canvases with life-sized figures marking the four great feasts of the liturgical year. In the event it took Maíno three years, and by the time he signed it off in 1614 he was able to add the initial “F” for Fray – “Brother”.