Art and Architecture (SP3055)
Velázquez and Philip IV
“Velázquez's entry to the court had opened with the death of Philip III, whose reign had lasted for twenty-three years and had been marked by the drift and decline of the monarchy's power in Europe. The new king, Philip IV, was a young king; he was only sixteen years old when he ascended the throne and still unformed as a person and ruler alike. His lack of confidence and experience provided the opportunity for Gaspar de Guzmán, the count duke of Olivares, an ambitious aristocrat who had been carefully planning for the day when he would capture the king's favour, to take hold of the reins of government and begin to rebuild the monarchy.
During the 1610s, Olivares had spent time in Seville and become acquainted with members of PachecoName=pacheco; HotwordStyle=BookDefault; 's circle, including the painter himself. After he came to power, he called upon these Sevillian friends to serve in the government and royal household, and their arrival at court provided Velázquez with the opportunity to advance his career. Thus in 1622, he travelled to Madrid for what would prove to be a vain attempt to gain a foothold at court. Discouraged but not defeated he returned to Madrid the following year and, with the assistance of Juan de Fonseca and other friends from Seville, he was given the opportunity to execute a portrait of the kingName=felipe; HotwordStyle=BookDefault; , a picture that he reworked extensively a few years later. The portrait was favourably received and the desired appointment obtained: on 6 October 1623, Velázquez was named royal painter with a salary of twenty ducats a months plus payment for individual works as executed.
From Jonathan Brown, The Golden Age of Painting in Spain, Yale University Press, p.133
Gaspar de Guzmán
The Conde Duque de Olivares - portrait by Velázquez
Pacheco
Francisco Pacheco 1564 - 1638. Velázquez's father-in-law.
Contributor and witness to the artistic atmosphere that
engendered the genius of Zurbarán, Velázquez and
Murillo
. Highly cultured humanist with a passionate interest
in the meaning of art and also a practising painter. His artistic
oeuvre is not so well known as his written works.His Arte de
la pintura, published 1648, is his great contribution to
the study and practice of art. A fundamental document for the
study of seventeenth-century Spanish painting. Methods,
techniques, subjects occupy his attention. But overall he is
writing a propaganda piece for the ideal of the erudite painter,
in conformity with his humanistic outlook. The noble nature of
painting suffuses his thinking, to the extent that his ascribes
nobility to certain material procedures. He is a major witness in
the theme of the nobility of painting.
Summarised from Zahira Veliz, Artists' Techniques in Golden Age Spain, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Portrait of the king
Felipe IV - early portrait by Velázquez