How do you paint your own slave? Painter Julie Mehretu explores Velázquez’s answer to this troubling question.
Velázquez
This puzzling painting about painting is half genre scene, half family portrait. But what’s on the large canvas?
Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas
Don’t strike the messenger! Interrupted at his forge, a horrified Vulcan looks ready to hammer Apollo.
Diego Velázquez, Vulcan’s Forge
Velázquez lends immediacy and gritty realism to a mythological subject. We are right there, ready to partake.
Diego Velázquez, Los Borrachos (The Drunks), or ...
Disorganized and youthful, Dutch troops surrender to the seasoned Spanish army. Count the victors’ spears!
Diego Velázquez, The Surrender of Breda
Combining earthtones with dramatic lighting, Velázquez meticulously renders a waterseller’s world.