VELAZQUEZ

THE development of Spanish art in the time of Philip II which was partly due to the influence of foreign artists brought together by that distinguished monarch’s personal relations and preferences, contributed greatly to the glory of painting, which reached its zenith in the seventeenth century. But the period of gestation as yet ill defined and confused, which precedes the blossoming of a purely national art, is separated from it by several years; the last of the sixteenth century and the first of the following century were not the happiest for our painting. The decay of the school of the portrait painters, the death of El Greco, whose work remained almost entirely confined to Toledo, the absence of any artistic personality in the largest towns, or of a painter of any talent at court, hardly encouraged men to prophecy that the golden age of art was at hand, or that it was to be so rich, so prolonged or so various in its manifestations.

It was in these melancholy days for Spanish painting that a young man, born in Seville in 1699, began his artistic education. His name was Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez.

From eleven years of age he had been the pupil of Francisco Pacheco, the painter whose highly trained intelligence attracted all those who formed, in the Andalusian capital, the aristocracy of art and letters.

The teaching of Pacheco, his artistic maxims, crystallised from the pseudo-classicism which was then fashionable, made no impression on the temperament and natural tendencies of the young man, who had already devoted himself to the faithful interpretation of nature. No conventions of the studios; no embellishment of the rude form which the living model offers to the vision of a soul that often aspires to some higher ideal; to follow nature as she reveals herself to his eyes, without conventionalising or falsifying, such was the principle to which he always remained faithful, and which he was able to observe, thanks to the serene aloofness of his artistic temperament and the marvellous correctness of his eye. His first attempts were numerous crayon and colour studies executed with great seriousness. While still in his teens he painted several of those works so remarkable for their realism, for their masterly drawing (which with Velázquez was an innate gift), for their sculptural relief and precision: the Old Woman Frying Eggs (of the Cook collection) and the Seville Water-Carrier (in the possession of the Duke of Wellington). Both these pictures, now in England, show that vigour with which the artist treated popular subjects. Typical of his religious works are the Immaculate Conception, St. John in Patmos, Christ in the House of Martha, all three, like the preceding ones, in England; St. Peter, in a private collection at Madrid; the Adoration of the Magi in the Prado; and Christ with the Pilgrims of Emmaus, which has been recently acquired by an American collector.

The art revealed by these pictures and the others which Velázquez painted at Seville in his years of apprenticeship, are in direct contradiction with the principles professed by Pacheco. Yet, far from seeking to dissuade his pupil from following the tendencies he manifested, he encouraged him to realise a style of painting frankly naturalistic; and, won by the moral qualities of Velázquez, made him his son-in-law before the young painter had completed his nineteenth year. A little later, Pacheco, after having made in 1622 an unsuccessful attempt, succeeded in 1623 in introducing Velázquez to the court of Philip IV. The painter remained his whole life in the service of his sovereign.

The portrait of Fonseca, the first which the young Sevillian painted at the Court, put his talent to the proof in a manner so brilliant that when this portrait had been shown to the King, to his brothers the Infantes and to the courtiers, Velázquez obtained a salaried position at Court and was at once commissioned to paint the portrait of the sovereign.

Fonseca’s portrait is lost, but there are in existence several portraits of the King, the Infante D. Carlos, the Count-Duke Olivares, painted in the first years spent by Velázquez in Madrid. These are masterly works and so personal that they are sufficient to explain the jealousy which the young intruder aroused in the mediocre group of painters around Philip IV. Nevertheless the position of Velázquez grew stronger from day to day, and particularly after his triumph in 1625 with an equestrian portrait of the King which has disappeared, and his victory in the competition for a picture showing the expulsion of the Moors. Here he was matched against three of the King’s other painters, Vincente Carducho, Eugenio Caxes and Angel Nardi. Velázquez obtained the prize by the unanimous decision of a jury composed of artists. This painting was also lost in the burning of the Alcazar at Madrid in 1734. There remains another, The Topers, finished two years later, the high water mark of Velázquez’s production during these years. This picture shows all the qualities of the works executed at Seville in the first years of apprenticeship, but in a higher degree. Nowhere has the picaresque spirit which played so brilliant a part in Spanish literature at that time, found a more original expression than on this extraordinary canvas. The artist here reveals himself with a vigour that has not been surpassed for characterization of types and energy of expression. If Velázquez had died the day after finishing The Topers, this work alone would have been enough to ensure his supremacy and to give him the title of founder of a school in a milieu still lacking in definite orientation and in personality.

These brilliant beginnings of Velázquez at Court dimly foreshadowed the glory which awaited him. His first travels in Italy which took place the year that he finished the painting of The Topers, in 1629, marks a perfecting of his natural qualities, which develop by the study of the great Italian masters and by the constant determination to realize an interpretation more precise and more faithful to nature.

It was then in Italy and in classical surroundings that he painted Vulcan’s Forge, a mythological work, which if it does not show a very close acquaintance with the consecrated canons, reveals all the mastery of the artist in the execution of the nude. Then also it was that Velázquez painted the two landscapes of the Villa Medici at Rome, where he showed in simple studies how he understood and treated landscape, as the forerunner of the modern schools of open-air painting.

Between the year 1631, the date of his return from Italy, and the year 1649 the date of his second journey to Rome, begins the period during which the artist’s production is most marvellous, not for copiousness which never characterised Velázquez, but for the variety and refinement of his works.

The painting of The Lances unequalled for nobility, where the painter’s genius reproduces all the chivalrous spirit of the race; the equestrian portraits of the King, Queen and princes; the other canvases where the same personages are seen dressed for the chase, and which have as background the mountainous country of the Pardo with its ancient oaks planted in a soil as picturesque as it is poor—these landscapes, the horizon of which is bounded by the range of the Sierra de Guadarrama, and by the snowy summits of Castile glittering in the sun; and other portraits also like that of the Count-Duke Olivares; that of the King in military uniform painted at Fraga in 1644 and discovered in 1912; those of the court jesters; that of a Spanish woman, typical of its class, which is one of the treasures of the Wallace collection; Christ on the Cross; the scenes of the chase; all works which give an idea of the power which the painter’s personality acquired. During these eighteen years of maturity developed what the critics call the second manner of Velázquez, larger than that of his youth, even more finely coloured and enriched with those harmonies in grey and silver with which nothing else can compare.

But the painter still retained sufficient vitality to create a higher art, almost enigmatical, which is shown in the works of his last decade, an art so sublime that it has only recently been understood, and which finds perhaps its best disciples among the moderns.

After having painted at Rome in 1650 the portrait of the Doria Pope, preceded by the bust of Juan Pareja now at Longford Castle, and the study for the portrait of the Pope which is preserved in St. Petersburg at the Hermitage, Velázquez became one of the highest functionaries of the Spanish Court. Up to his death in the month of August 1660 he superintended the decoration of the Royal Palace. His official duties, which were quite foreign to the exercise of his art contributed greatly to limit the output of the painter. However he found means to take from his numerous and exacting occupations the time to create works such as the last portraits of the Kings and the Princes which we admire so much at Madrid; the second series of dwarfs, richer still and more marvellous than those that he had painted in his maturity and among which we must place the two characteristic figures of Aesop and Menippus which have nothing of the Greek and are in the last epoch of the painter’s life, what the painting of the Drunkards had been in the earlier; the two religious paintings of the Crowning of the Virgin and the Holy Hermits; the six mythological canvases, three of which perished in the burning of the Alcazar in 1734, but some of which happily remain in our national Museum, the Gods Mars and Mercury with Argus, and, in the National Gallery in London, the Venus with the Looking-glass, the attribution of which has been wrongly doubted; and finally the fine canvases of the Spinners and the Meninas the supreme monuments of a whole school, models of synthetic art, marvellous for the simplicity of their technique, the delicacy of their harmonies, and the study of values, paintings which, in spite of their modest appearance and lack of elaboration, are works of magic and sublime creations in which the painter betrays neither effort, weakness or fatigue.

Such was the genius who has conferred so much glory on Spain and who, with barely a hundred canvases, has exercised the most powerful influence over nearly all modern schools of painting.

A. de Beruete Y Moret.

The numbers at the foot of the illustrations, correspond to those in the official catalogue of the Prado Museum.

La Adoración de Los Reye

L’adoration Des Mages

The Adoration of the Magis

[1166]

Retrato de hombre

Portrait d’homme

Portrait of a Man

[1209]

Retrato de Felipe IV.

Portrait de Philippe IV

Portrait of Philip IV

[1182]

Retrato de D.ª Juana Pacheco, mujer del painter

Portrait de D.ª Juana Pacheco, femme du peintre

Portrait of Joanna Pacheco, Wife of the Painter

[1197]

Retrato del Infante D. Carlos

Portrait de l’Infant Don Carlos

Portrait of the Infante Charles

[1188]

Reunión de bebedores (Los Borrachos)

Réunion de buveurs (Les Ivrognes)

The Wine Bibbers

[1170]

Retrato de Felipe IV

Portrait de Philippe IV

Portrait of Philip IV

[1183]

Retrato de la Infanta de España D.ª Maria, Reina de Hungría

Portrait de l’Infante d’Espagne D.ª Maria, reine de Hongrie

Portrait of the Infanta Maria of Spain, Queen of Hungary

[1187]

La Fragua de Vulcano

La Forge de Vulcain

The Forge of Vulcan

[1171]

Vista tomada en el jardín de la «Villa Médici», en Roma

Vue prise dans le jardin de la «Villa Médici», à Rome

View taken in the Garden of the «Villa Médici», at Rome

[1210]

Vista tomada en el jardín de la «Villa Médici», en Roma

Vue prise dans le jardin de la «Villa Médici», à Rome

View taken in the Garden of the «Villa Médici», at Rome

[1211]

Retrato de un bufón del Rey Felipe IV, llamado «Pablillos de Valladolid»

Portrait d’un bouffon du roi Philippe IV «Pablillos de Valladolid»

Portrait of one of the Buffoons of Philip IV, named «Pablillos de Valladolid»

[1198]

Retrato de D. Diego de Corral y Arellano

Portrait de D. Diego de Corral y Arellano

Portrait of Diego de Corral y Arellano

[1195]

Retrato de D.ª Antonia Ipeñarrieta y Galdós

Portrait de D.ª Antonia Ipeñarrieta y Galdós

Portrait of Antonia Ipeñarrieta y Galdós

[1196]

Nuestro Señor crucificado

Le Christ en croix

Our Lord Crucified

[1167]

Retrato de D. Antonio Alonso Pimentel

Portrait de D. Antonio Alonso Pimentel

Portrait of Anthony Alonso Pimentel

[1193]

La rendición de Breda (Las Lanzas)

La reddition de Breda (Les Lances)

Capitulation of Breda (The Lances)

[1172]

La rendición de Breda (Las Lanzas) (Fragmento)

La reddition de Breda (Les Lances) (Fragment)

Capitulation of Breda (The Lances) (Fragment)

[1172]

Retrato del célebre escultor Martínez Montáñez

Portrait du sculpteur célèbre Martínez Montáñez

Portrait of the eminent Sculptor Martínez Montáñez

[1194]

Retrato de la Reina D.ª Margarita de Austria

Portrait de la reine Marguerite D’autriche

Portrait of Queen Margaret of Austria

[1177]

Retrato del Rey D. Felipe III

Portrait du roi Philippe III

Portrait of Philip III

[1176]

Retrato de la Reina D.ª Isabel de Borbón

Portrait de la Reine Isabelle de Bourbon

Portrait of Queen Isabel of Bourbon

[1179]

Retrato del Rey D. Felipe IV

Portrait du Roi Philippe IV

Portrait of Philip IV

[1178]

Retrato del Príncipe don Baltasar Carlos

Portrait du prince Balthazar Carlos

Portrait of Prince Balthazar Charles

[1180]

Retrato del Conde-Duque de Olivares

Portrait du comte-duc d’Olivares

Portrait of the Count-Duke Olivares

[1181]

Retrato del Rey D. Felipe IV. en traje de caza

Portrait du Roi Philippe IV en costume de chasse

Portrait of Philip IV in hunting costume

[1184]

Retrato del Infante D. Fernando de Austria

Portrait de l’infant Ferdinand d’Autriche

Portrait of the Infante Ferdinand of Austria

[1186]

Retrato del Príncipe don Baltasar Carlos

Portrait du prince Balthazar Carlos

Portrait of Prince Balthazar Carlos

[1189]

Retrato de un enano del Rey Felipe IV, llamado «El Primo»

Portrait d’un nain du roi Philippe IV, dit «El Primo»

Portrait of a Dwarf of King Philip IV, surnamed «El Primo»

[1201]

Retrato de un enano del Rey Felipe IV

Portrait d’un nain du Roi Philippe IV

Portrait of a Dwarf of Philip IV

[1202]

Retrato de un enano del Rey Felipe IV

Portrait d’un nain du Roi Philippe IV

Portrait of a dwarf of Philip IV

[1203]

El niño de Vallecas

L’enfant de Vallecas

The Child of Vallecas

[1204]

El bobo de Coria

L’idiot de Coria

The Fool of Coria

[1205]

Retrato de un truhán del Rey Felipe IV

Portrait d’un bouffon du Roi Philippe IV

Portrait of one of Philip IV’s jesters

[1200]

Retrato de Pernía, bufón del Rey Felipe IV

Portrait de Pernía, bouffon du Roi Philippe IV

Portrait of Pernía, Buffoon of Philip IV

[1199]

Retrato de D.ª María de Austria

Portrait de D.ª María d’Autriche

Portrait of Mary of Austria

[1191]

Retrato de D.ª María de Austria

Portrait de D.ª María d’Autriche

Portrait of Mary of Austria

[1190]

Retrato de la Infanta D.ª María Teresa de Austria

Portrait de l’Infante Marie Thérèse d’Autriche

Portrait of the Infanta Maria Theresa of Austria

[1192]

Retrato del Rey D. Felipe IV

Portrait du Roi Philippe IV

Portrait of Philip IV

[1185]

El dios Marte

Le dieu Mars

Mars

[1208]

Mercurio y Argos

Mercure et Argus

Mercury and Argus

[1175]

La Coronación de la Virgen

Le Couronnement de la Vierge

The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin

[1168]

Esopo

Esope

Aesop

[1206]

Menipo

Ménippe

Menippus

[1207]

La fábrica de tapices de Santa Isabel de Madrid (Las Hilanderas)

La fabrique de tapisseries de Santa Isabel, à Madrid (Les Fileuses)

The Tapestry works of Saint Isabel at Madrid. (The Spinners)

[1173]

Las Meninas (La Familia)

Les Ménines (La Famille)

The Little girls (The Family)

[1174]

Las Meninas (La Familia) (Fragmento)

Les Ménines (La Famille) (Détail)

The Little Girls (The Family) (Fragment)]

San Antonio Abad visitando a San Pablo

Saint Antoine Abbé visitant Saint Paul Ermite

The Abbot Saint Anthony, visiting Saint Paul

[1169]

EL ARTE EN ESPAÑA

EDICIONES DE VULGARIZACIÓN

Propagar el conocimiento de los tesoros artísticos de nuestra patria, es lo que nos mueve a publicar esta Biblioteca de vulgarización del Arte nacional, que tiende, por lo económico de su precio, a que llegue a todas las manos. Es tanto lo que aún poseemos, y tan importante, que es de conveniencia que se sepa, por los que no lo tengan averiguado, que nuestro país es todo él un museo, rico, variado, generoso para cuantos a su estudio se dediquen. Para demostrarlo, y para que esta demostración llegue fácilmente a todas partes, emprendemos la publicación de una serie de tomitos en los cuales se recojerá, con abundancia de reproducciones y acompañado de breve texto, lo más saliente de antiguas construcciones seculares; de los pintores y escultores que gozan de nombradía universal y de cuanto en los museos españoles dice el abolengo de industrias artísticas nacionales.

Obras publicadas:

1.	—LA CATEDRAL DE BURGOS.
2.	—GUADALAJARA-ALCALA DE HENARES.
3.	—LA CASA DEL GRECO.
4.	—REAL PALACIO DE MADRID.
5.	—ALHAMBRA.
6.	—VELAZQUEZ EN EL MUSEO DEL PRADO.
7.	—SEVILLA.
8.	—ESCORIAL.
9.	—MONASTERIO DE GUADALUPE.
10.	—EL GRECO.
11.	—ARANJUEZ.
12.	—MONASTERIO DE POBLET.
13.	—CIUDAD RODRIGO.
14.	—GOYA EN EL MUSEO DEL PRADO.
15.	—LA CATEDRAL DE LEON.

En prensa:

PALENCIA : LA CATEDRAL DE SIGÜENZA

Establecimiento editorial Thomas, Mallorca, 291, Barcelonas

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