Why the unsurpassed Diego Velazquez is called the "artist of Truth"

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The significance of his art in the development of world painting is invaluable, and his creative legacy served as a source of inspiration for the outstanding French masters of the 19th century. Rave reviews about him were sung by Kramskoy, Surikov and Serov. Lovers of Spanish art must have guessed that we are talking about the unsurpassed Diego Velazquez.

Biography

The greatest painter of the Spanish school was born in Seville in 1599. He was able to get a good education. From an early age, he grew up as an inquisitive and well-trained child, quickly learned to read and from a young age began to collect his own library, which by the end of the artist's life turned into a monumental collection. Judging by the topics of the books and manuscripts of this library, Velazquez throughout his life was seriously interested in literature, architecture, history, philosophy, mathematics and astronomy, read in Latin, Italian and Portuguese. At the age of 12, Diego Velazquez finally decided to become an artist. He began working in the Seville workshop of Francisco Herrera the Elder, and then in the workshop of the artist Francisco Pacheco. In 1623, the artist was invited to the court of King Philip IV to serve as a court painter.

Work in the palace

Although in his main activity Velazquez remained one of the most famous court painters of the Spanish king, he gained the greatest fame thanks to his progressive portrait and subject painting. It was in this genre that he gained the status of an "artist of Truth" as a master of high spiritual nobility and subtle intellectuality. Working at the court, Velazquez managed to preserve inner freedom and human dignity. He did not subordinate his work to the whims and tastes of noble customers. Working on the portraits, the artist was sincerely interested in both conveying the traits of a common man and in praising him. He managed to create extremely individualistic and impressive works. Velazquez remains one of the most important artists of the Spanish "Golden Age" and of world painting in general.

Interesting facts about Velazquez

Despite the abundance of works on royal orders, the artist found time to paint plot portraits of ordinary people and scenes (be they spinners, jesters, servants, etc.). Having a high status as a court artist, Velazquez managed to suppress the external influences of public opinion, which considered this work demeaning, wasteful or meaningless, and created truly irresistible canvases.

The straightforwardness of the artist was reflected in his works: the painting style of the Spanish master was photorealistic in nature and was far ahead of its time. He developed his own techniques to accurately depict details and nuances, including the use of gradients of light, color and shape. It is not for nothing that he is called the early ancestor of the Impressionists and Realists.

Velazquez was a master at using chiaroscuro (manipulating light and shadow) to create high contrast. He used this technique to highlight moments of particular importance to the viewer and establish an overall atmospheric composition.

By the way, the composition was for Velazquez a strategic tool for managing the viewer's attention from the point of view of its own idea. To this end, he often used diagonal and horizontal lines and complex focal points to direct the observer's gaze to the most important figure.

Meninas

Velasquez's masterpiece "Meninas" has become one of the most analyzed works in painting. In the painting, the master depicted his own self-portrait in the role of himself. Placing himself as an artist in the everyday private scene along with the royals, he noted not only the position of the artist as a person who is allowed to see moments of intimacy even in the family of the king, but also elevate the role of this profession in those difficult times.

Water carrier

Around 1620, Velazquez painted The Water Bearer, a portrait of an elderly poor man in a tattered brown robe serving a glass of crystal clear water to a boy on the street. Drops of water glisten on the creamy surface of a huge earthen vessel filled with water. Velazquez painted the canvas at a very young age (20 years), but he managed to geniusly convey the most important idea: despite his poverty, the water carrier has a crystal clear soul, like the water thanks to which he earns a penny for a living. The rough colors and gentle humanity of the painting perfectly convey the depth of the artist's compassion.

Self-portrait

The self-portrait was painted by the artist at the age of forty, during the heyday of his talent and in the very years when his contemporaries began to call Velazquez "the artist of truth."

Portrait of Juan de Pareja

Juan de Pareja was a Seville of Moorish descent and a servant of an artist. He worked in Velázquez's workshop from the 1630s. Parekha himself was a talented artist. The portrait demonstrates the hero's strength, poise and pride despite his status as a slave. The palette is surprisingly chosen - the general gray tones of the clothes contrast with the warmer tones of the face. The look is strong, decisive and expressive. The portrait conveys an overwhelming sense of human dignity. The collar is of particular importance here: luxurious and expensive, it is a dazzlingly rich creamy composition. This, of course, is not an attribute of lower class clothing, and here it is a symbol of freedom. Velazquez treated Pareja with the same solemnity and respect as depicted in the portrait. The painting is a significant testimony to Velazquez's love for the image of the greatness and purity of an ordinary person. What is significant - immediately after the completion of the portrait, the artist granted his friend freedom.

Portrait of Pope Innocent X

Velazquez studied earlier portraits of popes by Raphael and Titian, but he painted the image of Pope Innocent X exactly as he saw him: a wary, suspicious old man on guard of the world. Velasquez's masterful writing of details and decorations is amazing: silk, linen, velvet, gold, textures. The use of light with different shades of red and white creates an atmosphere of power and power of the ruler. In the portrait, Pope Innocent X is depicted so harsh and cruel that Velazquez's acquaintances were worried that the Pope would be unhappy with the work. Seeing his portrait, he told the artist: "Too true", but in the end he approved the result.

Like other great masters, Velazquez was the creator of his era, and regardless of the subject of his work - whether it is the image of gods, kings or aristocrats, dwarfs or artists - his work continues to live after his death. In fact, Velazquez has been regarded by some of the most prominent artists in history as their idol. These artists included Paul Cezanne, Edouard Manet and Pablo Picasso, and others. It was the artist's talent and passion for introducing new techniques in painting that made Velazquez one of the best artists in the world.

Creativity of great artists is timeless. Proof of this is history how Velazquez and Goya inspired the most daring couturier of the 20th century to create haute couture.