Biography of Diego Velazquez.

Diego Velazquez

In Spain, King Charles IV. He worked as the chief painter in Felipe's palace. He is one of the unique painters of the Baroque period and became famous for his portraits.

Diego Velazquez was born on June 6, 1599 in Seville, Spain as the first son of his parents. His full name is Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez. His father, Juan Rodríguez de Silva, is a lawyer who is a Portuguese Jew, and his mother is Jerónima Velázquez, who comes from a noble family. Since it was the custom in Spain at that time for the first son of the family to take the mother's maiden name, he took the name Velazquez. Diego Velazquez learned languages, studied philosophy, took painting classes.

Seville was the cultural and business center of Spain at that time. When his father, a wealthy man, realized that his child was very talented in the field of painting, he sent him to the famous painter Francisco de Herrera in 1612 to do his studies. leaving Herrera's side in 1613, Velazquez entered the studio of Francisco Pacheco, a more academic painter. He worked with her for five years. He learned the proportions, perspective from him, and also, since his teacher was close to the hardworking people in Seville, Velazques began to closely monitor the changes in the literary and artistic trends of the period and helped his teacher to enter the Palace in the future.

Diego Velazquez soon achieved fame as a painter. Velazquez, who was not even seventeen years old, was admitted to the lodge of city painters. Velazquez, who stayed with the painter Francisco Pacheco until 1618, married his master's daughter Juana Pacheco on this date. they had two daughters, born in 1619 and 1621. Their eldest daughter, Francisca de Silva Velázquez y Pacheco (1619-1658), later married the famous painter Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo; their younger daughter died when she was still a baby. Dec Portrait of his wife is among his most famous paintings.

This painting is in the Prado Museum.

in 1622, Diego Velazquez, who went to Madrid and to the Escorial palace, was invited by King Charles IV. He made a portrait of Felipe. He was 26 years old when he made the portrait of the king. When the king liked his own painting, Diego Velazquez was appointed palace painter. in 1623, Velazquez came to Madrid with his family and settled there. His portraits made at the palace allowed him to become one of the immortal artists Dec He made many portraits of the king, courtiers, and especially gnomes and jesters.

Diego Velázquez, King of Spain IV. Felipe, 1631-1632, Oil on canvas, 127.5 x 86 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.

in 1627, the King held a competition to choose the best painter of Spain. The theme of the contest was to depict the expulsion of Muslims from Spain. Velazquez won.

The famous Dutch painter Peter Paul Rubens had come to Madrid on a diplomatic mission in 1628. King Charles IV. Felipe entrusted Velazquez with the task of showing this great artist works of art in Spain. He held this diplomatic post for seven months. On the advice of this painter, Diego Velazquez went to Italy on September 19, 1629 with the permission of the king the following year and toured Genoa, Venice, Ferrare, Naples and Rome for 1.5 years. During this trip, which lasted a year and a half, the King did not cut off the painter's pensions, but added the road money to it. The artist worked there for a while, copying the works of Italian painters such as Michelangelo Bu Decarroti, Raffaello Santi, and in the meantime he made several paintings for himself. During his days in Italy, he learned a lot from Italian painting. By the way, he was impressed by the dec of Titian. In Naples, he met Jusepe de Ribera. he returned to Madrid in 1631.

When it was decided to establish an art academy in Spain, Diego Velazquez went to Italy on assignment this time in 1649. King Charles IV. He was going to buy artworks for Felipe and return to Spain. There he made portraits of Pope Innocent the 10th and his African-born black slave Juan de Pareja, whom he brought with him from Spain, in 1650. The painting, exhibited at the Pantheon on March 19, 1650, was highly appreciated. he returned to Madrid in 1651.

After returning from Italy, he was again in Spain under King Charles IV. Diego Velazquez, who continued to work as the chief painter in Felipe's palace, continued to paint members of the palace. Diego Velazquez is one of the most distinctive painters of the Baroque period and became famous for his portraits. Due to his proximity to the King of Spain, he painted many noblemen and palace life.

The Bridesmaids (Las Meninas) painting, 1656

Her most famous work bears the name "Bridesmaids (1656/57)". It is the first time in the history of world painting that three dimensions have been moved to canvas. The painter has taken part in the painting in its entirety, while the King and Queen appear vaguely in the mirror at the back of the room. To the right of the painter, five-year-old Princess Margarita is curiously watching her parents, while the bridesmaids are interested in her.

in 1659, King Charles IV. Felipe awarded Diego Velazquez the title of knight. This title freed him from the pressure of the Inquisition, allowing him to work comfortably. in 1660, he married the Spanish princess Maria Theresa to the French King Charles XIV. She handled Louis' wedding preparations. He enriched the wedding in terms of art. He returned to Madrid on 26 June 1660.

Table of Women Weavers (Las Hilanderas), 1657

her work Women Weavers of 1657 is considered the pinnacle of the painter's art, although it is not as well known as "Bridesmaids". In the picture there is a scene from the Santa Isabel carpet factory in Madrid: in the foreground are the women weavers at work, and in the background there is a carpet that three women admire and the theme of Arachne is embroidered. When you look at the painting from a distance, it gains depth, and when you look closely, everything gets mixed up. It is a picture that shows decents and employees together.

Another famous work is the oil painting "Venus in a Mirror (1644/48)". It is the first painting of naked women that can be considered a pioneer for its time. It is exhibited in London. Until the date of this painting, no Spanish painter had chosen Venus - Aphrodite - as his subject. This Baroque-style composition, which shows the figure from the back, in contrast to traditional depictions of Aphrodite, also shows the influence of Italian painters on Velazquez.

Diego Velazquez, Mirrored Venus - 1651 - The painting is in the National Gallery, London.

He skillfully used light and shadow in his paintings. He is referred to as the "true painter of truth" because he broke with the tradition of painting only the beautiful that prevailed in his era and was one of the first painters to paint everything that is natural. During the first period of his artistic life in Seville, he made works of the "bodegon" type. This genre is a kind of painting in which items, food and drinks, which are usually found in the kitchen, are depicted together with human figures, human figures are selected from among modest people in everyday life. After making such paintings for about ten years, Velazquez made portraits during the period when he was a palace painter in Madrid. Diego Velazquez has made a great impact not only on the painters in his hometown, but also on many foreign painters.

Diego Velazquez, Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary – 1618 - The painting is in the National Gallery, London.

Diego Velazquez fell ill on July 31, 1660. Unable to recover from this illness, he died on August 6, 1660 in Madrid, Spain at the age of 61.

He was buried with great ceremony in the garden of the Church of San Juan. As he was being buried, the King cried, saying, "now I am ruined." The wife, who followed the painter all her life like a silent shadow, died very soon after his death, in the room where the painter died, and then was buried next to her husband. Under the monument erected in Seville in memory of the painter, it says " to the painter of truth".

Diego Velazquez's painting "Venus with a Mirror" was exhibited at the National Gallery in London, England, in 1914, while the head of the women's movement, Mrs. Velazquez, wanted women to be given the right to vote. Emmeline Pankhurst is being arrested. Wanting to protest this, Mary Richardson enters the national gallery with an axe in her hand and goes to the room where Venus is and cuts her in several places with a cutting tool. Later, the work was restored by Helmut Ruhemann and put on display again. After the attack, the Wallace Collection at the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery were closed to female visitors. In the following years, women could only see these collections in the company of men.