Diego Rodríguez de Silva Velázquez (two breaths to read [smile], 1599-1660) was the most famous Spanish painter of the seventeenth century.
Velázquez self-portrait
When Velázquez was young, he wrote a letter of recommendation to the King of Spain, asking "The King to appreciate the real artist!" The king immediately gave him the opportunity to paint a portrait of himself. Satisfied with the portrait, the king ordered that all his other portraits be removed from the wall, and henceforth only Velázquez would be able to paint his own portraits. He was also appointed court painter, raising his status to the same level as court clowns (shouldn't the current painter secretly congratulate himself on his social status?). ）。 In this way, Velázquez remained in the Spanish court for more than thirty years until his death.
Velázquez was also a prolific painter. Today, we will only talk about two of his masterpieces: "Gong'e" and "Pope Innocent X"
"Gong'e" is known as one of the world's three famous paintings (Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Rembrandt's Night Watch), and no painting has produced as many topics as "Gong'e" and has been repeatedly analyzed by art history, history and even philosophy. Today we're just reading pictures.
It is a huge painting with large figures and real people. Let's first count how many people are in the painting. Counterclockwise from left to right: Standing on the far left is the painter Himself, who is painting in front of a huge easel with a paintbrush and a palette, next to him is a maid holding a tray and kneeling to hand over the five-year-old princess Margarita in the middle of the picture, who is also the brightest place, and another maid is performing a knee salute on the right side of the picture; behind a dog in the lower right corner of the picture are the princess's two dwarf playmates (at that time, the Spanish court had many dwarfs, clowns, disabled people, etc. for the royal family's entertainment), and behind the dwarf stood a man and a woman in the shadows. The woman is the princess's lifelong nanny, the man is the housekeeper; then there is an open door, and at the door stands the queen's attendant (everyone in the painting is a historical person with a name and a surname, but the Spanish name is too long and too complicated, we only read the painting and do not study, so all the names are omitted), count, a total of nine people. No, no? There was a mirror on the wall behind the painter, and in the mirror there were two men, who were the king and his wife, then, plus they were eleven in all.
Now the question is, first, why is it called "Gong'e"? Is the maid the protagonist of the painting? In the painting, the C bit is obviously standing on the princess! In fact, the original name of this painting was "The King's Family", and two hundred years later, I don't know who changed the name "Gong'e" without authorization for what people.
The second question has puzzled many researchers: What is Velázquez painting in this painting?
The first view: the painter was painting Princess Margarita when the king and his wife passed by the outside of the painting room and stopped temporarily, so that the mirror on the wall reflected them both. Six of the nine people in the painting notice the king's arrival, and their eyes are turned to the king and his wife, and a palace maid immediately bows to them.
The second point of view: the painter is painting the king and his wife, and the position where they are standing is just so that they are reflected in the mirror. At this time, princess Margarita suddenly ran in, and a large group of retinue followed. But this view was doubted, because all the children of the previous king died one after another, and the former queen died. The king was so heartbroken that he decided never to paint his own portrait again, because he did not want to see his old state and bad mentality. With the new queen, the king was in a better mood, but the king and his wife were in the same frame, but there had never been such a tradition.
The third point of view: the painter painted the painting "Gong'e", and he made a record of his work scene and the content of his work, which is equivalent to drawing a "work photo" of himself.
The painter succeeded in creating several spaces in the painting: the picture space that the viewer could see and the space reflected by the mirror that the viewer could not see, and the space outside the door frame where the queen's attendant stood. In particular, the role of the mirror in the painting is clever and mysterious.
This painting of Gong'e has made historians and art historians relish the repeated analysis and production of countless articles. Even the philosopher Foucault (French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984) wrote a long treatise analyzing the painting. Modern painters such as Picasso and Dali also appreciated youjia and copied them several times, and finally painted several of their own "Gong'e" in their own style.
Dalí One of the Palaces, 1960
Dalí, Gong'e, Part II, 1976
Picasso, One of the Palaces, 1957
Picasso, Palazzo 2, 1957
The second painting we are going to read today is The Portrait of Pope Innocent X:
Velázquez Portrait of Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X in the painting is dressed in red and white, sitting on a red chair against a red background, looking majestic and majestic, and it is his eyes and mouth that are particularly worthy of careful appreciation. The look in his eyes and the corners of his mouth reveal the firmness, cunning, suspiciousness, and scheming in his character, which has been cultivated over the years. He turned his head inadvertently, and his gaze was like two cold rays of light, not angry.
Would you like to try to look into his eyes? Stare into his eyes to see if he can hold out for a few seconds? I can guarantee that you will not be able to hold out for a few seconds and then immediately look away, but you can't help but look at him again. Although you know it's just a painting, you'll flee as quickly as possible under his eyes.
Immortal Velázquez!
——The End ——
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Little Gossip of the Master of Oil Painting Van Dyke: A Beauty Camera of the Seventeenth Century
The Little Gossip of the Master of Oil Painting: Rubens (II) The Big Winner in Life
The little gossip of the master of oil painting: Rubens (I) famous paintings are also robbed
My Custom Painting
Paint tulips dedicated to Rembrandt in his later years. (The Little Gossip of the Master of Oil Painting: Rembrandt (II)
Gaze at Yourself (Little Gossip of the Master of Oil Painting: Rembrandt (I)
The Little Gossip of the Master of Oil Painting: Caravaggio (II)
The Little Gossip of the Master of Oil Painting: Caravaggio (I)