Velázquez Biography

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, a well-known painter during the 17th century, was born in Seville in 1599 (Brown 1). He was the eldest of the seven children, and the son of Silva and Jerónima Velazquez (Brown 1). Both of his parents claimed to be descendants of lesser nobility, a claim that Velázquez will later benefit from (Brown 1). During his time, painting was considered a craft, which is work done with hands rather than the mind, meaning it was unworthy of a nobleman (Carr 26). Velázquez was sent to Franciso Pacheco, a well-known painter in Seville, as an apprentice (Carr 26). Under Pacheco’s teachings, Velázquez began to use everyday life as his subjects, which at the time was something new; he painted tavern and kitchen scenes (Carr 27). Eventually Velázquez even married Pacheco’s daughter, Juana Pacheco (Carr 14). While he was learning under Pacheco he was able to meet Count-Duke of Olivares, who encouraged him to journey to Madrid, where artists went to paint for the king (Carr 29). An opportunity opened up when one of King Philip IV’s painters died, and Velázquez was summoned to portray the king (Carr 29). Velázquez ended up appointed as a court painter to later became one of the King’s leading artists. Velázquez spends most of his life as King Philip IV’s courtier and painter.

Velázquez was considered to be one of the most unique painters in the Spanish Baroque era. The phrase “Truth, not reality” is often used to describe his paintings, because Velázquez paintings usually display lifeline sense of the essential qualities of people and things that they seem to exist (Carr 26). Most of his painting’s subjects were the Spanish Royal family, however Velázquez occasionally painted historical scenes and paintings with...

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...ist are seen to be right-handed and paintings one the walls are not reversed. Palomino strongly suggests that the mirror reflects the large canvas that Velázquez is working on (Harris 174). Mirrors are a natural symbols of art’s function of reflecting reality (Carr ).

The only other painting that Velázquez is known to use a mirror in is Venus, where it is used an aid (Harris 174). However, the usage of the mirror is used differently, it is only used to create depth for Venus (Harris 174). Las Meninas was not the first painting to “draw the eye inwards and bring the spectator in”(Harris 174). Jan van Eyck’s Marriage Portrait of the Arnolfni, where the mirror reflects the married couple in front, and another person whom is assumed to be the artist, displays those characteristics (Harris 174). People believe that Van Eyck’s painting gave Velázquez this complex idea.