Velazquez Paintings

By Darren Hartley


One portrait among Velazquez paintings was that of the court fools, people with mental and physical weaknesses kept to amuse the king. In his portrait, Velazquez exemplified great humanity by depicting them with respect instead of mockery. Another famous Velazquez painting was The Rokeby Venus, done in 1648, depicting a beautiful female nude.

The best known among the Velazquez paintings was a large group portrait of maids of honor, entitled Las Meninas, completed in 1656. It depicted Velazquez at his easel with members of the court. The young attendants who were part of the portrait were the ones who gave the title to the painting.

In 1618, Diego married Juana, the daughter of Francisco Pacheco, a local painter, with whom he spent a 6 year apprenticeship with. By 1621, the couple had two daughters. Through the connections his father in law had, Diego was able to move to Madrid in 1622. The Court-Duke of Olivares was one of the earliest sitters for the portraits that comprised the Velazquez paintings.

After Diego painted a portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares, the Count-Duke recommended Diego to be a court painter for King Philip IV. The young king of Spain, after seeing a completed portrait among the Velazquez paintings, decided to contract his services.

Upon rejoining the Madrid court after a second trip to Italy from 1649 to 1651, Velazquez paintings comprised of portraitures with a technique that was more assured than ever. It was in 1656 that Diego produced his most acclaimed work, Las Meninas.

Velazquez paintings are considered to be works of one of the great masters of Western art. He is considered as a strong influence by artists of the likes of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. French impressionist, Edouard Manet described Diego as the painter of painters.




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