Velázquez: Painter and Courtier

by Jonathan Brown

Offers a detailed biography of the seventeenth century Spanish painter, looks at all of his paintings, and discusses the original technique Velazquez developed for his art

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Spain, Biography, History

323 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Dannica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Velazquez so much :)
Jonathan Brown does a good job of describing Velazquez's career, his development both as an artist and as a courtier. Even when things get complex or political, he explains things in a way that's pretty easy to understand. And of course it was just a lot of fun looking at Velazquez's paintings one by one, and learning the context in which they were painted. I've seen a couple of them in person, which made it even more interesting--though now I wish I'd read this book before going to the Prado, bc I would have appreciated all the Velazquez paintings a lot more.
A good book!

[Milan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fysiek niet het meest handzame boek en er had soms wel wat meer vaart in gemogen, maar ik wil nu wel heel graag naar Madrid.

[Joseph Sales · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine study that correlates the oeuvre of perhaps the greatest of the Masters with the machinations at a court, sumptuous though it may be, that was palpably and irreversibly in decline. Provides a cursory but intriguing glance at Count-Duke Olivares, the tragic Richelieu figure to Philip IV, who could not reform the inherent defects of the Spanish state quickly enough despite his Herculean efforts.

As for Velazquez? Wow! His talent was spotted early on and so benefited from a broad humanist education obtained from one of the leading lights in Seville, Francisco Pacheco, whose circle of erudite intellectuals facilitated Velazquez' entree to Philip's court in Madrid. Brown's book charts the artist's transformations in style and technique as well as the lucky breaks he enjoyed that gained for him patronage at the very highest levels of a rigidly stratified society. It seems like for many knowledge workers (like me) development sometimes proceeds patchily, like some kind of condensed individuated punctuated equilibrium model, where long periods of calm stasis are interrupted by brief phases of salutary and often tumultuous change. For Velazquez, his apprenticeship under Pacheco, a months-long encounter with Rubens, and a journey to Italy, were catalysts of profound change. Velazquez didn't have half the chutzpah that Rubens had but was probably, in my untrained eyes, twice the innovator. Velazquez remained faithful to the humanist tenets learned from Pacheco but constantly enlarged his circle of contacts, and worked on his technique to the point where people studied him, a fitting denouement for a genius.

[William Guerrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a biography of Velazquez, but rather, as the subtitle suggests, a study of his work as a painter and courtier. The book is beautifully illustrated and the author has wisely chosen to produce a text readable by a layperson, but with voluminous endnotes detailing and elaborating on the impressive scholarship upon which he has relied.

The book is not physically reader-friendly, but art histories rarely are.

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

difficult not to like velazquez as an artist. appreciation will of course be aided by Las Meninas, made famous among cultural theory losers like me by Foucault's The Order of Things.

[alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't just a great art book to look at but a great one to read. Brown manages to provide historical context and biographical details without becoming pretentious or tedious.