Diego Velasquez (Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velazquez): creativity and biography (photo)

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The most prominent representative of the Spanish painting of the "golden" age is the realist painter Diego Velasquez. His work differed significantly from others in its penetration into the character of the model, rich and subtle color, heightened sense of harmony. It was he who laid the foundations of the psychological portrait in European art. Biographers claimed that Diego was easily given many sciences. He began building a library early, as he learned to read at an early age. It is she who testifies to Velasquez's interested study of many sciences, but painting is still the most alluring for him.

Childhood

In the city of Seville, in a poor but noble family of Jews who converted to Christianity on June 6, 1599, Velazquez Diego de Silva was born. He was the eldest of eight children in the family. According to a common Andalusian custom, Diego and his brother (also an artist) took their mother's surname. The future fate of the boy was largely determined by the fact that his father was a native of Portugal. At first, Diego, as well as other male children, was sent toLatin convent school.

But at the age of nine, the child already had a pronounced ability for art, so his father sent Herrera, a popular artist in Spain at that time, to study at the workshop. The fact of the chosen profession became a challenge for the local aristocracy, since the profession of an artist was considered an unworthy occupation for a nobleman. The character of the teacher was unbearable, because of this, Velasquez did not study for long with this master, and a year later the boy worked in the studio of Francisco Pacheco, a wonderful teacher who loves antiquity.

In Pacheco's house

Diego Velazquez remained in Pacheco's workshop until he received the title of master at the age of eighteen. It is thanks to the advice of his teacher that he improves the ability to accurately reproduce nature. Here, the work of Diego Velasquez is represented by the following paintings: "Immaculate Conception", "Breakfast", "Supper at Emmaus", "Old Cook", "Water Carrier", "Adoration of the Magi", "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary", "Musicians".

After graduation, the mentor, who was attracted by the virtue, purity, genius, as well as other positive qualities of his student, married him his only daughter, sixteen-year-old Juana Miranda. During the first three years of marriage, the young couple had two daughters. At the age of twenty-one, Diego Velazquez opened his own workshop. In the early work of the artist, interest in the representatives of the common people is noticeable. He depicts proud Andalusian ladies, gray-haired old men, cheerful boys andyoung spanish people. Along with other Spanish creators, Diego turns to biblical stories, but they do not occupy a large place in the life of the author. As a rule, these paintings do not have a mystical coloring, but rather resemble everyday scenes.

Move to Madrid

Changing the entire court environment of his father, the young (sixteen years old) ruler Philip the Fourth learned that a talented Spanish artist Velasquez lives in Seville, who was immediately called to the palace.

At the age of 24, Diego arrives in Madrid with his father-in-law. Prime Minister Olivares becomes his patron here. The "Portrait of the Young King Philip IV" painted by the artist is a great success, after which he is awarded the title of court painter. But, unfortunately, this work has not reached our times.

Portrait art

Now Diego Velasquez, whose biography is getting brighter colors, ceases to depend on odd jobs. He has a grand apartment in one of the wings of the palace, and in the suburbs, in one of the castles, he has a spacious workshop. The monarch himself also had the key to it, every day he loved to watch the work of the creator. The only drawback of such a life was the limitation of the subject matter of the paintings that Diego Velazquez created. The portrait became his main genre for many years. The king himself and his children were repeatedly written in the artist's creations. Infanta Margherita, the royal daughter, was especially often portrayed. Portraits that show facial changes have survived to our time.as she grows and matures.

Diego Velasquez became a resounding success, a sign of bad taste was the lack of a portrait of his work. The result is a large number of images of courtiers and politicians, as well as a gallery of prominent representatives of Spanish culture.

Expulsion of the Moriscos

But Diego's work was not only admired, the envy of the most respected artists led to a conflict due to the fact that the young creator did not take into account academic traditions. As a result, at the insistence of his "senior comrades", a competition was organized, for which the 28-year-old author painted the historical large painting "The Expulsion of the Moriscos". It is dedicated to the expulsion of all residents of Arab origin from the country, the most tragic part of the country's history.

Delight was caused by the work that Diego Velazquez did. Pictures, the description of which corresponded to the official purpose, hung in one of the palace halls, replenished this sharp, full of expression masterpiece. After a few weeks, he was ordered to be moved to the place where the favorite paintings of the king were located - the hall of mirrors.

As for the author himself, he received a high, equivalent to a chamberlain, the position of guardian of the royal door. Envy and malevolence did not affect Velazquez's human qualities in any way. He kept his inner freedom from the whims of the Spanish nobility. This picture, unfortunately, has not survived to this day.

Antique stories

Velasquez Diego, whose paintings are unusual for domestic traditions, to the age of thirtyage, he completes work on such a masterpiece on an ancient plot as “Drunkens”, or “Bacchus”. The painting depicts a rite of passage into the brotherhood of this god. There is already a bolder choice of types and realistic characteristics of the declassed representatives of the society of that time. Everything is done masterfully, recklessness, bitterness and fun are depicted like modern theater and literature. But in general, the artist respects the optimism and resilience of his people.

It was the antique plot that allowed him to break with the already traditional interior domestic scene. Thanks to the action in nature, the lighting becomes smoother and the colors richer. But the contrasts of shadow and light are still very strong, so the foreground is a little heavy, since this method is new to the author. And the creator will acquire more perfect possession later.

Trip to Italy. Diego Velasquez: Vulcan's Forge

By the permission of the king and, possibly, the advice of Rubens, together with the famous commander Ambrosio Spinola Velázquez visits the neighboring peninsula, where he copies paintings and frescoes of eminent masters, gets acquainted with ancient sculpture and the work of his contemporaries. Such a trip greatly expanded Diego's horizons and contributed to the improvement of skills. During this period, Diego Velasquez works very fruitfully. "Forge of Vulcan" was written by him in the capital of Italy. The interpretation of the mythological plot here is very original. The author depicted the moment when Vulcan (the god of fire) received news of treason from Apollowife (of Venus).

In this work, earthiness is completely absent, but the irony of the creator is clearly noticeable here. Despite the radiance of Apollo, his image is very prosaic. Vulkan and his assistants are also represented by living people, not distinguished by divine beauty.

This country gave Velazquez a lot, his painting became more perfect and mature, dark shadows and sharp lines disappeared, the landscape background became very significant.

Surrender of Breda

In all its splendor, the artist presents his own skill in the only battle canvas - "Surrender of Breda". It depicts the event of the fall of the Dutch fortress of Breda, besieged by the Spaniards. Its commandant Justin of Nassau handed over the keys to the Spanish commander Spinola.

The two of them are depicted in the center of the canvas. Bent by the weight of the defeat, Nassau rushes to the winner with the key in his hand. On the other hand, the Spaniards are crowded in black armor, and slender spears create a feeling of superiority in the power and numbers of the Spanish detachment.

Due to the novelty of the artistic solution, as well as the veracity of the image of the historical event, this picture became a revelation for its time.

But still, portraits are the leading genre in the work of Velasquez. They became more diverse in terms of pictorial solution and composition. All this is combined with picturesque freedom and exceptional persuasiveness in the interpretation of landscapes. Over the course of a decade, the master created a whole series of portraits of jesters and dwarfs. By the same time, a picture written in the forbiddenInquisition plot "Venus and Cupid" with the rarest image of a naked female body in Spanish painting.

Pictures of religious content. Visit to Rome

The Spanish king ordered Diego a painting for the monastery of San Placido. This work called "The Crucifixion of Christ" brought the author a resounding success, and its composition is surprisingly simple. The image of Christ does not have a landscape background; the author also tried to minimally express suffering on his face. The proportions, although ideal, differ from the muscular canons. The picture creates an atmosphere of deep thought and absolute silence.

Along with this artist, other paintings of similar content were written. Velasquez Diego, whose paintings are already famous, again visits Italy. The works created here brought even greater popularity to the creator. The most striking example is the “Portrait of Pope Innocent X”, which has a special meaning due to the extraordinary skill of painting, deep psychologism and sharp characterization.

The Pontiff is depicted sitting in an armchair in a pose filled with hidden tension. The dominating red tone penetrates the figure and gives it liveliness, especially intense in hot light. Not trying to ennoble the ugly face of the Pope, the author portrayed his tenacious and heavy look, temperament and inner strength. Before the viewer appears not a clergyman, but rather a secular ruler - smart, energetic, cunning, vicious and cruel.

Despite the generous reward for the portrait, Innocent found it too truthful, and because of the letter of Philip, who was afraid to loseartist, Diego Velasquez (whose brief biography does not miss a single significant event in his life) returns to his homeland. After that, the king raises him to the highest position in the state - the chamberlain, after which the artist receives full independence.

Las Meninas

During this period, the main paintings of the author are large-scale compositions "The Myth of Arachne" and "Menin".

The greatest creation of Diego is the painting "Las Meninas". This word itself denotes a girl belonging to an aristocratic family, who holds the position of maid of honor of the Spanish Infanta. The composition of this piece is very unusual.

The artist depicted one of the rooms of the royal palace - large and gloomy. In its left part, on a stretcher, he himself stands near a large canvas and paints a portrait of the king's family. The viewer can see her reflection in the mirror behind the creator. In the center of the room, surrounded by dwarfs and two meninas, stands Margherita, a charming little infanta. Behind them are the figures of a gentleman and a lady of the court, and behind the open door in the background is the queen's marshal.

From European artists, Velasquez was the first to show the behind-the-scenes life of the royal court. The little infanta and the ladies-in-waiting are depicted with great expressiveness. One of them, according to etiquette, kneels before Margarita, giving her a glass of water. The dwarf seems to be moving and pushing the big dog, while the fat dwarf froze in a daze.

It is quite difficult to determine the genre in which the picture is writtenDiego Velazquez "Las Meninas" Elements of a group portrait and everyday scenes are combined here. Masterfully, the author conveyed the space beyond the canvas, filling it with light and air from the open window.

Myth of Arachne

The pinnacle of the artist's creative skill is the work "The Spinner", dedicated to the working Spanish people. This picture is the first in the history of Western European painting that told about a simple man, his work.

There are two independent scenes in the composition of the picture. In the semi-gloomy weaving workshop, spinners are depicted in the foreground, who are busy with their work. In the middle, a young worker picks up skeins of wool from the floor, kneeling down. On the right is another spinner, she winds a thread made of wool into a tight ball. The author wrote it very large and realistic, and he conveys confidence and accuracy of movements with the help of the image of large hands with rolled up sleeves and a wide back. Another woman is watching the work of this spinner. And on the left, at the wooden loom, in a scarf carelessly thrown over her head, a tired weaver sits and talks with her assistant. At her bare feet lies a cat. In the background, behind a heavy red curtain drawn back, finished tapestries are seen stacked. The scene is depicted without embellishment, ordinary, but the necessary dynamism is given to it by the rotating wheel of the machine and colorfulness.

In the background are two court ladies looking at a carpet hanging on the wall, the bright and pure colors of which give this partrooms feel solemn and fabulous performance. On the finished tapestry, Diego depicted the finale of the legend of Arachne, but not the transformation of the girl into a terrible spider, but the triumph of the unsurpassed goddess of art, which is an allegory with political overtones. Thus, the creator expressed respect for the Spanish monarchy, which easily crushes not only individuals, but also any territory.

This picture is not only the apogee of Velazquez's work and his last major work, but also a sympathetic and deep understanding of the injustice of the entire world order.

By this time, Velasquez's court career reaches its highest point - he was awarded the Cross of Santiago, the most significant order of Spain. This fact became a precedent, as a man of art became a cavalier of one of the most ancient European orders of chivalry.

But at that time the creator was already seriously ill with malaria, which he contracted during the wedding ceremony of the French king and the Spanish princess on Pheasant Island. After returning to Madrid, Diego Rodríguez de Silva Velasquez died at the age of sixty-one. With his death, the heyday of Spanish painting ended.