Diego Velázquez was an outstanding Spanish painter of the 17th century and a giant of Western art. He was also known as the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV and of the Spanish Golden Age. "Las Meninas" (1656) is one of the most notable works he created during the reign of King Philip IV of Spain.
Background
Ethnicity:
Diego's paternal grandparents, Diogo da Silva and Maria Rodrigues, were Portuguese, who settled down in Seville. Some sources of information claimed, that his paternal family were of Sephardi Jewish descent. Diego's maternal grandparents were Juan Velázquez Moreno and Catalina de Buon Rostro y de Zayas. They were from Seville, Andalusia.
Diego Velázquez was born on June 6, 1599 in Seville, Andalucia, Spain. Some sources of information claime, that the 6th of June, 1599 was the date, when he was baptized at the church of St. Peter in Seville. Diego was the first of seven children of João Rodrigues de Silva, a notary, and Jerónima Velázquez. His paternal grandparents, Diogo da Silva and Maria Rodrigues, had moved to Seville from their native Portugal decades earlier. Diego's maternal grandparents were Juan Velázquez Moreno and Catalina de Buon Rostro y de Zayas.
Education
Velázquez was educated by his parents and received good training in languages and philosophy. Then, he began to study under Francisco de Herrera, a vigorous painter, who disregarded the Italian influence of the early Seville school. Velázquez remained with him for one year. It was probably from Herrera, that he learned to use brushes with long bristles.
From 1611 to 1616, Velázquez studied under the guidance of the portrait and religious painter, Francisco Pacheco. From Pacheco, Velázquez received both a humanistic education and technical training. Velázquez remained in Pacheco's school for five years, studying proportion and perspective and witnessing the trends in the literary and artistic circles of Seville.
Career
At the age of 18, as a member of St. Luke's Guild, Velázquez was entitled to have his own workshop. In 1622, Velázquez spent seven months in Madrid, studying the royal art collection, but with the primary purpose of obtaining a commission to paint the King's portrait. Although he failed in this aspiration, he achieved his first fame at court with the portrait of Don Luís de Góngora, painted in 1622.
The following year, in 1623, the Count-Duke of Olivares, a Sevillian and the young king's favored minister, called Velázquez to the Madrid court. On August 30, he completed his first portrait of Philip IV; it was an immediate success, and the King declared, that henceforth no one, but Velázquez would be permitted to do the royal portraits. It is thought, that this first portrait is hidden beneath the version of "Philip IV in the Prado". If so, the x-ray reveals a never to be seen again, animated monarch, standing with relaxed dignity, his lips slightly parted as at the start of a smile of camaraderie, while his eyes search, with shy approval, those of the artist beyond. This underpainting has a spontaneity, reminiscent of Frans Hals, and provides a hint of the celebrated friendship between artist and sovereign. Ever after, the portraits show the formal Philip with eyes guarded and mouth prim.
Over the years, Philip IV made numerous lucrative contracts with Velázquez, but the artist was continually forced to petition the bureaucracy for arrears in payments and to agree to relinquish several past claims in order to receive some current ones. He did not hesitate to appraise his works higher in value, than those by others despite the Treasury's delinquencies.
Appointed Usher to the Chamber in 1627, Velázquez was raised above all other court painters. Indeed, that year rivalry had provoked a competition among the court painters; Velázquez won, even though his challengers and the judges were all Italian. Peter Paul Rubens visited Madrid the following year and had little to do with any artist except Velázquez, who had the honor of showing the renowned diplomat-artist the royal collection in the Escorial. Perhaps owing to Rubens's influence, Velázquez left Spain in August 1629 and spent 18 months in Italy.
The Count-Duke of Olivares had prevailed upon the ambassadors, representing Italian states in Madrid, to provide Velázquez with numerous letters of recommendation. They did so, nervously speculating among themselves about espionage. Velázquez's independent nature may be judged by the selective use he made of these letters. In Ferrara, he accepted a cardinal's hospitality, but courteously declined to dine with his host so that he might better arrange to see art works during his brief stay. He passed through Bologna, but failed to stop even to present letters he carried for dignitaries there.
In Venice, Velázquez sketched Tintoretto's "Last Supper", among other works. In Rome, he made sketches from Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" and frescoes by Raphael. He left an apartment, provided for him in the Vatican, saying, that it was "too lonely and out of the way". Later, he spent two summer months in the Villa dé Medici. While he was in Italy, he executed two magnificent paintings - "Joseph's Coat" and the "Forge of Vulcan", both painted in 1630.
In 1636, Velázquez was appointed Gentleman of the Wardrobe without duties and, in 1645, was made Gentleman of the Bedchamber. With all these honors, he nevertheless smarted under a social protocol which, for instance, had him seated in bullfights next to royal barbers and servants of nobility.
The climax of Velázquez's Italian trip was a commission to paint the portrait of Innocent X. He prepared for it by painting his assistant, Juan de Pareja. He was said to have painted both "with long-handled brushes and in Titian's vigorous manner". Both portraits were instantly admired. Velázquez was admitted to the Academy of St. Luke and to the Congregation of the Virtuosi of the Pantheon. As a result of the Pope's pleasure with his portrait, Velázquez took a giant step toward his treasured dream: Innocent X instructed the Papal Nuncio in Madrid to support the artist's candidacy to be appointed a knight of one of the military orders.
On his return to Spain, Velázquez was showered with more honors by his monarch, but the knighthood was delayed, apparently by the resistance of members of the nobility. In 1652, Philip IV brushed aside the applicants, recommended by a six-member board, and appointed Velázquez to the office of chamberlain with a lucrative salary and a large apartment in the Treasure House connected to the Royal Palace.
One of his final works was "Las Hilanderas", painted approximately in 1657, representing either the interior of the royal tapestry works or a depiction of Ovid's Fable of Arachne, depending on interpretation. Velázquez' final portraits of the royal children are among his finest works and in the "Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress", the painter's personal style reached its high-point.
Achievements
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was famous as the Spain's greatest painter in the Baroque style, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV and one of the most outstanding of the European artists of his century. Besides numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he painted scores of amazing portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures and commoners, culminating in the production of his masterpiece "Las Meninas", painted in 1656. His other notable works include "The Surrender of Breda" (1634-1635), "Rokeby Venus" (1647-1651), "Portrait of Innocent X" (1650) and others.
It's important to say, that, in 1659, Diego was made a Knight of the Order of Santiago.
It's also worth noting, that widely famous modern artists, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Francis Bacon, paid tribute to Velázquez by recreating several of his most famous works.
In the end, Velázquez's greatest contribution to art was in his ability to respectfully toe the line between tradition and modernity in a way, that sparked both lovers of art and other artists simultaneously.
Prince Baltasar Carlos with the Count Duke of Olivares at the Royal Mews
Portrait of Cardinal Infante Ferdinand of Austria with Gun and Dog
Religion
A lack of religious conviction has been wrongfully imputed to Velázquez because of the way he would treat a religious theme in a seemingly casual relation to a commonplace, contemporary scene.
Views
Velázquez's intensely direct style of painting truth was photorealistic in nature and far ahead of its time. He infused various techniques toward accurately depicting detail and its many nuances, including free, loose brushstrokes, the utilization of gradients of light, color and form, as well as an eye for detail, that was unsurpassed by his peers. This style would become an early forebear to both Realism and Impressionism.
Velázquez was a master of the use of chiaroscuro, or, the treatment of light and shadow in a painting to create high contrast. He utilized this technique to highlight points of particular importance to the viewer and to set an overall atmospheric perspective.
Composition was a strategic tool for Velázquez in motivating the viewer to experience his work as it was intended. To this end, he often used diagonal structures, complex focal points and separate planes to manipulate the eye toward what was most important or to spur a deeper understanding of the picture.
Quotations:
"I would rather be the first painter of common things, than second in higher art."
"Raphael, to be plain with you, for I prefer to be candid and outspoken, does not please me at all. It is Titian, that bears the banner."
"I'll never get tired of hearing your sweet words, but i will get tired of not."
"A human will only grasp the realm of a parent's love, when he experiences for himself the like."
Membership
Diego was a member of the Accademia di San Luca and the Roman Congregazione dei Virtuosi in the Church of Santa Maria della Rotonda (Pantheon).
Personality
Physical Characteristics:
On July 31, 1660, Diego was stricken with fever. He passed away on August 6, 1660.
Interests
Artists
Titian
Connections
On April 23, 1618, Velázquez married Juana Pacheco, the daughter of his teacher. She bore him two daughters. The elder, Francisca de Silva Velázquez y Pacheco, married painter Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo at the Church of Santiago in Madrid on August 21, 1633; the younger one, Ignacia de Silva Velázquez y Pacheco, born in 1621, died in infancy.
Father:
João Rodrigues de Silva
Mother:
Jerónima Velázquez
Daughter:
Francisca de Silva Velázquez y Pacheco
Daughter:
Ignacia de Silva Velázquez y Pacheco
Wife:
Juana Pacheco
Grandfather:
Diogo da Silva
Diogo da Silva and his wife, Maria Rodrigues, came to Seville from their native Portugal.
grandmother:
Maria Rodrigues
Maria Rodrigues and her husband, Diogo da Silva, came to Seville from their native Portugal.
Grandfather:
Juan Velázquez Moreno
grandmother:
Catalina de Buon Rostro y de Zayas
References
Velázquez: Painter and Courtier
This work, written by Jonathan Brown, offers a detailed biography of the seventeenth century Spanish painter, looks at all of his paintings and discusses the original technique Velazquez developed for his art.
1986
I, Juan de Pareja
Told through the eyes of Velázquez's slave and assistant, this vibrant novel depicts both the beauty and the cruelty of 17th century Spain and tells the story of Juan, who was born a slave and died a respected artist.
Velázquez: Complete Works
This updated catalog raisonné brings together Velázquez's complete works, reproduced in extra-large format, with a selection of enlarged details and brand new photography of recently restored paintings.
2014
Diego Velázquez
This work, written by Mike Venezia, describes the life and career of the seventeenth-century Spanish artist, who was famous for his portraits of royalty.
