Diego Velázquez

:This article pertains to the artist. For the conquistador who invaded Cuba in 1511, see Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar.

Return to Spain (later period)

King Philip wished that Velázquez return to Spain; accordingly, after a visit to Naples, where he saw his old friend José Ribera, he returned to Spain via Barcelona in 1651, taking with him many pictures and 300 pieces of statuary, which afterwards were arranged and cataloged for the king. Undraped sculpture was, however, abhorrent to the Spanish Church, and after Philip's death these works gradually disappeared.

Related Topics:
Naples - Barcelona

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Isabella of Bourbon had died in 1644, and the king had married Marie-Anne of Austria, whom Velázquez now painted in many attitudes. He was specially chosen by the king to fill the high office of aposentador major, which imposed on him the duty of looking after the quarters occupied by the court—a responsible function which was no sinecure and one which interfered with the exercise of his art. Yet far from indicating any decline, his works of this period are amongst the highest examples of his style.

Related Topics:
Isabella of Bourbon - 1644 - Marie-Anne of Austria

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Las Meninas

One of the infantas, Margarita, the eldest daughter of the new Queen, is the subject of Las Meninas (1656, English: The Maids of Honor), Velázquez's magnum opus. Created four years before his death, it is a staple of the European baroque period of art. An apotheosis of the work has been effected since its creation; Luca Giordano, a contemporary Italian painter, referred to it as the "theology of painting," and the seventeenth century Englishman Thomas Lawrence cited it as the "philosophy of art," so decidedly capable of producing its desired effect. That effect has been variously interpreted; Brown points out the noteworthy interpretation that, in inserting within the work a diminutive, faded portrait of the king and queen hanging on the back wall, Velázquez has ingeniously prognosticated the fall of the Spanish empire that was to gain momentum following his death.

Related Topics:
Infanta - Margarita - Magnum opus - Baroque - Luca Giordano - Seventeenth century - Thomas Lawrence - Brown - Spanish empire

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It is said the king painted the honorary Cruz Roja (Red Cross) of the Orden de Santiago (Order of Santiago) on the breast of the painter as it appears today on the canvas. Velázquez did not, however, receive this honor of knighthood until three years after execution of this painting. Even the King of Spain could not make his favorite a belted knight without the consent of the commission established to inquire into the purity of his lineage. This aim of these inquiries would be to prevent the appointment to positions of anyone found to have even a taint of heresy in their lineage—that is, a trace of Jewish or Moorish blood or contamination by trade or commerce in either side of the family for many generations. The records of this commission have been found among the archives of the Order of Santiago. Velázquez was awarded the honor in 1659. His occupation as plebeian and tradesman was justified because, as painter to the king, he was evidently not involved in the practice of "selling" pictures.

Related Topics:
Cruz Roja - Order of Santiago - Knighthood - Purity of his lineage - Jew

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Final years

Had it not been for this royal appointment, which enabled Velázquez to escape the censorship of the Inquisition, he would not have been able to release his La Venus del espejo (1651, English: Venus at her Toilet) also known as The Rokeby Venus. It is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez.

Related Topics:
Inquisition - Venus at her Toilet - Nude

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There were essentially only two patrons of art in Spain—the church and the art-loving king and court. Bartolome Esteban Murillo was the artist favored by the church, while Velázquez was patronized by the crown. One difference, however, deserves to be noted. Murillo, who toiled for a rich and powerful church, left scarcely sufficient means to pay for his burial, while Velázquez lived and died in the enjoyment of good salaries and pensions.

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One of his final works was Las hilanderas (The Spinners), painted circa 1657, representing the interior of the royal tapestry works. It is full of light, air and movement, featuring vibrant colors and careful handling. Anton Raphael Mengs said this work seemed to have been painted not by the hand but by the pure force of will. It displays a concentration of all the art-knowledge Velázquez had gathered during his long artistic career of more than forty years. The scheme is simple—a confluence of varied and blended red, bluish-green, grey and black.

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In 1660 a peace treaty between France and Spain was to be consummated by the marriage of Maria Theresa with Louis XIV, and the ceremony was to take place in the Island of Pheasants, a small swampy island in the Bidassoa. Velázquez was charged with the decoration of the Spanish pavilion and with the whole scenic display. Velázquez attracted much attention from the nobility of his bearing and the splendor of his costume. On June 26 he returned to Madrid, and on the July 31 he was stricken with fever. Feeling his end approaching, he signed his will, appointing as his sole executors his wife and his firm friend named Fuensalida, keeper of the royal records. He died on August 6, 1660. He was buried in the Fuensalida vault of the church of San Juan Bautista, and within eight days his wife Juana was buried beside him. Unfortunately this church was destroyed by the French in 1811, so his place of interment is now unknown. There was much difficulty in adjusting the tangled accounts outstanding between Velázquez and the treasury, and it was not until 1666, after the death of King Philip, that they were finally settled.

Related Topics:
1660 - Maria Theresa - Louis XIV - Bidassoa - June 26 - July 31 - August 6 - San Juan Bautista

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