Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/67

* VELAZQUEZ. 43 VELAZQUEZ. Regent of the Nctlierlamls, to Madrid in 1628, was not without inlluunee upon Velazquez, thovigh it did not direc-tly all'ect his ail. itubens had a liigh opinion of the rising Spanianl, and it was through his advice and intercession with the King lliat tlie latter obtained the coveted leave to visit Italy. At this time (102!)) Velazquez €.ecuted the chief genre picture of the early period, the subject of which may lietray Flemish inlluence, though this is not evident in the execu- tion. In "Los Borrachos" (the Topers), more properly entitled "Bacchus," the wine god sits on a cask amidst a band of weather-beaten drinkers, crowning a soldier of the party with vine leaves. His figure is a wonderful example of the artist's treatment of the nude, while the ^.xpression and animation on tlie faces of the topers perhaps surjjass anything else in this particular genre. There are curious variations of the Prado original at Naples and in Lord Heytesbury's collection. After a short stay in Venice, where he admired Titian and copied Tintoretto, he made Rome his headquarters. The Spanish ambassador leased for him the Villa Medici, to which he was at- tracted by the antique statuary ; delightful me- mentoes of his own stay there are the two sketches of the Medici gardens (Prado). He was, strange to say, less attracted by the grand mas- ters of the past at Rome than by less important •contemporary painters, like Guido Reni, whoso inlluence is evident in his chief picture of the period, the "Forge of Vulcan" (Rrado). This canvas shows great advance over his previous treatment of the nude in "the five fine figures of the smithy, among whom ^'ulcan listens with indignant amazement to Apollo's account of his wife's follies. To the same period belong "Jo- seph's Coat" (Escorial), also painted for the King, and the fine youthful portrait of himself in the Capitoline Museum, executed with a few masterly brush strokes. In 1630 Velazquez was summoned to Naples to portray the King's fa- vorite sister, the Infanta Maria ( Prado ), who was about to become Queen of Hungary. While there, he made the friendship of his compatriot Ribera, head of the Italian naturalists. After an absence of eighteen months he returned to Spain. For the next eighteen years (1631-49) he re- mained in constant attendance on the King, and was in the strictest sense a Court painter. Philip IV. was a mighty hunter; Velazquez portraved him in a hunting costume, fowling-piece in hand, with his favorite dog, as he did also his brother, the Cardinal-Prince Ferdinand, and Don Bal- thasar, his little son and heir, with two splendid <iogs — all in the Prado iluseum. No one painted dogs better than Velazquez. The "Boar Hunt" (National Gallery) and the "Stag Hunt" (Prado) show with admirable realism and fine landscape effect how such courtly pageants — for they were nothing more — were conducted. "To the fact that both the King and Olivarez were excellent horsemen we owe Velazquez's splendid series of equestrian portraits. No one could paint a horse better than he. It was al- ways the heavy Andahisian breed, seemingly round and clumsy, but in reality as swift as they were strong. These are his most cele- brated portraits. In the portrait of Philip IV. (1635) the King and his horse move as one be- ing in the impressive Castilian uplands. The Vol. XX. -4. Queen's horse moves with measured, stately tread, while Prince Baltha.sar gallops across the plain on his chestnut ponj' in the fresh spring morning. His green velvet jacket and his gold embroidered red scarf are fine bits of color in the green landscape, and the pony is fore- shorteiu'd with such consummate skill as to pre- sent the outlines of a ball. l''ourth in the g:eat series is Olivarez, in shining armor, charging at ] full speed at the head of a troop of cavalry. Here, too, there is fine foreshortening — the horse gallops from us and we see the Duke's head over liis shoulder. All of these august personages were of course painted many other times — the little prince in his riding-school (two (mi)ies in England) and as a suitor (Vienna and Bucking- ham Palace). During the King's military ex- pedition to Aragon (1644) Velazquez painted him in brave military array, the gay colors of which form a pleasing contrast to the usual sombre hues of his costume. This is the so- called I''raga portrait, at Lynford Hall, Norfolk. Among other famous portraits of the middle period are those of the poet Quevedo ( Apsley House), the sculptor Martinez Montanez (Prado), Cardinal Borgia (Frankfort), the Duke of Modena (Modena), Don Antonio Pimen- tel (Prado), and Admiral Adrian Pulido (Na- tional Gallery). Although he portrayed women less often than men, he did it with rare charm, as may be seen in the so-called "Sibyl" (Prado), a true Spanish type; the "Lady with a Fan" (Hertford House) ; a supposed portrait of the painter's wife ( Berlin), and one of his daughter (Prado). Velazquez was of great assistance to Olivarez in the construction of Buen Retiro, a country- seat secretly designed for the King's recreation, by superintending its decorations. For it he painted his principal historical picture, the "Sur- render of Breda," more widely known under the name of "Las Lanzas" (Prado), the most decora- tive of all his works and unusually bright in color. The subject, an incident in the war against the Netherlands, furnished the occasion for an admirable contrast between the Germanic and Latin races, from the point of view of the latter. Of the two religious pictures belonging to this period, the "Crucifixion" (Prado) depicts the youthful and synmietrical body of Christ upon the cross, in the midst of black space, but without any attempt to render the agony, which forms the chief theme of his "Christ at the Pillar." The latter is a verj' original conception, representing the moment the scourgers have gone and the Saviour sinks exhausted upon the Hoor. turning his face to a little child and an angel. Of the land- scapes in the Prado attributed to him the "View of Saragossa" and the "Fortunes of Pamplona" are probably by his .son-in-law Mazo; nor does the well-known sketch "Reunion de Gentils- hommes" (Louvre) seem to be his handiwork. On the fall of Olivarez, in 1643, Velazquez con- tinued to portray and honor him. notwithstanding the general execrations. Nor did he lose the King's favor on this account, but as director of the partial reconstruction of the Alcazar he re- ceived the coveted leave to revisit Italy in 1649. Most of his time was occupied with his task of buying paintings and statuary for the new apart- ments; but while in Rome he found time for two magnificent portraits — one of his slave, the nies-