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| Author's biography |
| The greatest painter of the Spanish School. He was born in Seville, where in 1610/11 he was apprenticed to Pacheco (possibly following a brief period of study with Herrera the Elder). In 1617 he qualified as a master painter and in the following year he married Pacheco's daughter. Vel醶quez was exceptionally precocious and while he was still in his teens he painted pictures that display commanding presence and complete technical mastery. Pacheco's style in religious paintings was Italianate, dry, and academic; Vel醶quez revitalized it by following his master's advice to 'go to nature for everything', and in works such as The Immaculate Conception (National Gallery, London, c. 1618) and The Adoration of the Magi (Prado, Madrid, 1619) he developed a more lifelike approach to religious art in which the figures are portraits rather than ideal types (his young wife may be the model for the Virgin in both these pictures). The light, too, is realistically observed, even though it has a mysterious, spiritual quality. In their strong chiaroscuro as well as their naturalism such pictures show an affinity with the work of Caravaggio and his followers. The clotted but supple brushwork is, however, already entirely Vel醶quez's own. Contemporary with these religious works were a series of bodegones, a type of genre scene to which he brought a new seriousness and dignity, as in The Waterseller of Seville (Wellington Museum, London, c. 1620).In 1622 Vel醶quez paid a short visit to Madrid, during which he painted a portrait of the poet Luis de Gongora (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). In the following year he was recalled to the capital by Philip IV's chief minister, the Count-Duke Olivares, and painted a portrait of the king (now lost) that pleased Philip so much that he appointed him one of his court painters and declared that now only Vel醶quez should paint his portrait. Thus, at the age of 24, he had suddenly become the country's most prestigious painter, and he kept his position as the king's favourite unchallenged for the rest of his life. With his appointment as court painter, the direction of Vel醶quez's work changed. He entirely abandoned bodegones, and although he painted historical, mythological, and religious pictures intermittently throughout his career, he was from now on primarily a portraitist. Technically, too, his work changed as a result of his move to Madrid, his brushwork becoming broader and more fluid under the influence particularly of the Titians in the royal collection. Although his portraits of the king and his courtiers are grand and dignified, he humanized the formal tradition of Spanish court portraiture derived from Mor and Coello, setting his models in more natural poses, giving them greater life and character, and eliminating unnecessary accessories. The king (who was six years younger than Vel醶quez) had an extremely high opinion of the artist's personal qualities as well as his artistic skills, and the warmth with which he treated him was considered astonishing, given the stiff etiquette for which the Spanish court was renowned. In 1627 Philip made Vel醶quez 'Usher of the Chamber', the first of a series of appointments that brought him great prestige but took up much of his time in trivial bureaucratic matters, thus partially accounting for his fairly small output as a painter. He was conscientious in his duties, however, and apparently well suited to them temperamentally.In 1628-29 Rubens visited Spain on a diplomatic mission and he and Vel醶quez became friends. Palomino records that the contact with Rubens 'revived the desire Vel醶quez had always had to go to Italy', and the king duly gave him permission to travel there. Vel醶quez was in Italy from 1629 to 1631, visiting Genoa, Venice, and Naples, but spending most of his time in Rome. Two major paintings date from this period - Joseph's Coat (Escorial, Madrid) and The Forge of Vulcan (Prado), works that show how his brushwork loosened still further under the< |
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