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It was in Seville
in 1617 that Diego Velázquez passed his guild examination to become a master of
painting. He had studied under Francisco Pacheco (1564-1644) and it is in his
accounts that we find the earliest references to Velázquez's work. Francisco
Pacheco also mentions in his writing that portraits are a lowly art,
unless executed with the mastery seen in the work of Velázquez.
When Philip IV came
to power, he had an Andalucian aristocrat at his side, Gaspar de Guzman, better
known as the Counter-Duke of Olivares (1587-1645). This reformer inherited
the role of royal favourite and served until his downfall in 1643. Ever
faithful to his home province, Olivares brought many acquaintances to court from
his native Seville, among whom was Juan de Fonseca. In 1623 Fonseca introduced
the 24 year-old Velázquez to court at Olivares bidding.
Velázquez painted a portrait of Fonseca, which has since been
lost, and was then given permission to paint the young king, which earned him the
title of court painter. During this time he portrayed the most powerful members of court,
including the Counter-Duke Olivares, the Infante Don Carlos and the king
himself.
Technical analyses have shown that
his portrait of the king was originally painted in 1625 and then it was reworked
three years later, when Velázquez turned his attention to the costume. In spite
of the attention paid to the clothing, it is the young king's face that draws our
attention, in contrast with portraits of the Sanchez Coello school, where
intricately detailed costumes often distract from the sitters' faces.
The portrait of Philip IV can be seen
in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Many of the older painters at court naturally
envied the favour that the young artist from Seville
had achieved and therefore spread malicious gossip about him.
One criticism supposedly levelled at Velázqeuz was that he didn't know how to
paint anything else but heads. To stop this gossip, the king ordered a competition
among court painters to depict an assigned subject: the 1609 expulsion of
the Moors.
Two artists who weren't court painters
themselves judged Velázquez's painting the winner. Of all the paintings from
the competition only one survives, a sketch by Carducho, now housed in the Museo
del Prado, Madrid.
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