APAH: Baroque Art – Velázquez & Spanish Painting

Spain – Hapsburg rule Rising power of Spain 15th & 16th centuries Overseas expansion Declining power 17th century Loss of armada 1588 Loss in Thirty-Years War Failure to capitalize on markets Catholic – Counter-Reformation Same appeal to devotion & piety as in Italy Use of martyrdom images Jose de Ribera Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew (1639)

Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) Court artist for King Philip IV Prestige, patronage, position Chamberlain of the Palace Interior decorator and designer Unique style influences Western art Impressionist Cubists

Water Carrier of Seville Control of ability at 20 Influenced by Caravaggio Ordinary people Tenebrism Genre scene

Surrender of Breda Commemorating the Spanish victory over the Netherlands in 1625 Political propaganda Strength & benevolence God’s blessings on the victory

Portrait of Philip IV in Armor Philip was ugly – Velazquez had to ‘ennoble’ him

Las Meninas (1656) Called a “theology of painting” by Baroque artist Luca Giordano Moves beyond replication to recreating life Animating the scene and figures Capturing a moment not a static pose Color and energy over line Use of gradations of light – unlike Caravaggio Creates ‘areas’ in the painting – layers Set in the Alcázar (palace fortress in Madrid) Hung in the King’s private study Fulfills the premise of the painting – see’s his reflection Characters in the drama Infanta Margarita (princess) Focus of attention King & queen in mirror Giovanni Arnolfini & his Wife hung in Palace Unseen in the foreground Viewer’s position Over Infanta’s shoulder and behind her Velazquez as painter Prominent but in background With Order of Santiago painted on chest Required papal dispensation (x2) Painting beneath nobility Ladies-in-waiting Doting, fawning Dwarfs Maribarbola and Nicolas de Pertusato Kick at Mastiff adds spontaneity Governess, servant, and Queen’s chamberlain

A mystery wrapped in an enigma What is Velazquez doing? Extended depth Open doorway & stairs pull the viewer out of the room Mirror extends the foreground Paintings on the wall – copies of Peter Paul Rubens’ work Stories of the immortal gods as source of art Pallas and Arachne and The Judgment of Midas Dualities Formal family pose and a genre painting Court office and profession of painter Painting of painting a portrait of the king and queen Contrast of real space, pictured space, space within space