Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History


    • Juan de Pareja (born about 1610, died 1670), 1650
    Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660)
    Oil on canvas; 32 x 27 1/2 in. (81.3 x 69.9 cm)
    Purchase, Fletcher and Rogers Funds, and Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), by exchange, supplemented by gifts from friends of the Museum, 1971 (1971.86)

    In 1648, Velázquez was dispatched to Rome by Philip IV of Spain to buy works of art for the Alcázar palace in Madrid. In Rome, he painted an official portrait of Pope Innocent X (Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome). Before starting work on the papal portrait, he made an informal painting of his own assistant, Juan de Pareja, a Sevillian of Moorish descent. This picture was exhibited in Rome on March 19, 1650. In his life of Velázquez (1724), Palomino writes that the painting "was generally applauded by all the painters from different countries, who said that the other pictures in the show were art but this one alone was 'truth.'" The direct approach in this painting contrasts with the more formal structure of Velázquez's state portraits.

    This work of art also appears on Connections: Privilege , Spain , Survival

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    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Rousseau, Theodore. Theodore Rousseau: Selections from His Writings
  • Fahy, Everett. "A History of the Portrait and its Painter [Juan de Pareja by Diego Velazquez]." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 29, no. 10, part 2 (June, 1971).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Rousseau, Theodore. "Juan de Pareja by Diego Velazquez: An Appreciation of the Portrait." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 29, no. 10, part 2 (June, 1971).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Von Sonnenburg, Hubert . "The Technique and Conservation of the Portrait [Juan de Pareja by Diego Velazquez]." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 29, no. 10, part 2 (June, 1971).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Sonnenburg, Hubertus von with essays by Lucy Belloli, Charlotte Hale, Dorothy Mahon, and Christopher McGlinchey. "The Changing Image: Studies in Paintings Conservation." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 51, no. 3 (Winter, 1993–94).
    JSTOR | PDF
  • Wehle, Harry B.. "A Great Velazquez." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 1, no. 3 (November, 1942)
    JSTOR | PDF
    • On view: Gallery 610
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    • Juan de Pareja (born about 1610, died 1670), 1650
    Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660)
    Oil on canvas; 32 x 27 1/2 in. (81.3 x 69.9 cm)
    Purchase, Fletcher and Rogers Funds, and Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), by exchange, supplemented by gifts from friends of the Museum, 1971 (1971.86)

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