Diego Velázquez

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

To Madrid (early period)

The birth of realism in Seville

Velázquez fell in love with Pacheco's daughter Juana, whom he married in 1618 with Pacheco's hearty approval. The young painter set himself to begin recreating in his art common things—earthenware jars of the country people, birds, fish, fruit and flowers of the marketplace. A notable piece from this early period of depicting common Spanish life is Vieja friendo huevos (1618, English: An Old Woman Frying Eggs).

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By the early 1620s his position and reputation were assured in Seville; Velázquez's wife in these years bore him two daughters—his only known family. The younger died in infancy, while the elder, Francisca, in due time married Bautista del Mazo, a painter.

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Velázquez produced other notable works in this time. Sacred subjects are depicted in Adoración de los Reyes (1619, English: The Adoration of the Magi), and Jesús y los peregrinos de Emaús (1626, English: Christ and the Pilgrims of Emmaus), both of which begin to express his more pointed and careful realism.

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Madrid and Philip IV

Velázquez went to Madrid in the second half of April 1622, with letters of introduction to Don Juan de Fonseca, himself from Seville, who was chaplain to the King. At the request of Pacheco, Velázquez painted the portrait of the famous poet Luis de Góngora y Argote. Velázquez painted Góngora crowned with a laurel wreath, but at some unknown later date painted over it. It is possible that Velázquez stopped in Toledo on his way from Seville, on the advice of Pacheco, or back from Madrid on that of Góngora, a great admirer of El Greco, having composed a poem on the occasion of his death.

Related Topics:
Madrid - 1622 - Don Juan de Fonseca - Luis de Góngora y Argote - Toledo - El Greco

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In December 1622, Rodrigo de Villandrando, the King's favourite court painter, died. Don Juan de Fonseca conveyed to Velázquez the command to come to the Court from the Count-Duke of Olivares, the powerful minister of Philip IV. He was offered 50 ducats (175g of gold—worth about ?2000 in 2005) to defray his expenses, and he was accompanied by his father-in-law. Fonseca lodged the young painter at his own home and sat for a portrait himself, which, when completed, was conveyed to the Royal palace. A portrait of the King was commmissioned. On August 16 1623, the King sat for Velázquez. Complete in one day the portrait was likely to have been no more than a head sketch, but both the King and Olivares were pleased. Olivares commanded Velázquez to move his home to Madrid, promising that no other painter would ever paint the King's portrait and all other portraits of the King would be withdrawn from circulation. In the following year, 1624, he received 300 ducats from the king to pay the cost of moving his family to Madrid, which became his home for the remainder of his life.

Related Topics:
Count-Duke of Olivares - Philip IV - Ducat - Gold - ?

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Through an equestrian portrait of the king, painted in 1623, Velázquez secured admission to the royal service with a salary of 20 ducats per month, besides medical attendance, lodgings and payment for the pictures he might paint. The portrait was exhibited on the steps of San Felipe and was received with enthusiasm. It is now lost. The Museo del Prado, however, has two of Velázquez's portraits of the king (nos. 1070 and 1071) in which the severity of the Seville period has disappeared and the tones are more delicate. The modeling is firm, recalling that of Antonio Mor, the Dutch portrait painter of Philip II, who exercised a considerable influence on the Spanish school. In the same year the Prince of Wales (afterwards Charles I) arrived at the court of Spain. Records indicate that he sat for Velázquez, but the picture is now lost.

Related Topics:
San Felipe - Museo del Prado - Antonio Mor - Philip II - Charles I

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September 1628 Peter Paul Rubens came to Madrid as an emissary from the Infanta Isabella, and Velázquez kept his company among the Titians at the Escorial. Rubens was then at the height of his powers. The seven months of the diplomatic mission showed Rubens' brilliance as painter and courtier. Rubens had a high opinion of Velázquez, but he effected no great change in his painting. He reinforced Velázquez's desire to see Italy and the works of the great Italian masters.

Related Topics:
Peter Paul Rubens - Titians - Escorial - Italy

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In 1627 Philip set a competition for the best painters of Spain the subject of the expulsion of the Moors. Velázquez won. His picture was destroyed in a fire at the palace in 1734. Recorded descriptions of it say that it depicted Philip III pointing with his baton to a crowd of men and women driven off under charge of soldiers, while the female personification of Spain sits in calm repose. Velázquez was appointed gentleman usher as reward. Later he also received a daily allowance of 12 reals, the same amount allotted to the court barbers, and 90 ducats a year for dress. Five years after he painted it, as an extra payment he received 100 ducats for the picture of Bacchus (The Feast of Bacchus), painted in 1629. The spirit and aim of this work are better understood from its Spanish name, Los borrachos or Los bebedores (the tipplers), who are paying mock homage to a half-naked ivy-crowned young man seated on a wine barrel. The painting is firm and solid, and the light and shade are more deftly handled than in former works. Altogether, this production may be taken as the most advanced example of the first style of Velázquez.

Related Topics:
Moors - Philip III - Real - Bacchus - Wine

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