Portrait Of Juan De Parja Analysis
Thomas Caiazza
Professor Emily Ackerman
Art History (Art 3100, Section 07)
5/24/17
A Look into Velázquez’s Portrait of Juan de Pareja.
While the painting is but one form, it remains the medium most people think of when asked to consider art. Paintings are an integral part of art history, and can take many forms. Whether it be a landscape or a historical scene, paintings serve as a window into the age in which they were painting, giving the modern viewer a glimpse into the intrepid world of the baroque period. Diego Velazquez provides us with such a glimpse with his Portrait of Juan de Pareja, currently residing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Velazquez’s use of tenebrism and other elements in his portrait illustrating just some of the …show more content…
Juan de Pareja gazes out at the viewer, engaging him/her, communicating with his somber expression, all the injustice of being born to a slave, mixed race, in a time where both are looked down upon and ridiculed. Completely unable to control the circumstances of his birth, the viewer is sympathetic, but one wonders how the people of the baroque period must of felt viewing the painting in the Pantheon in 1650, as they did not live in the relatively tolerant society of the twenty first …show more content…
It may have been done to study techniques in color, as Velazquez was commissioned to create the Portrait of Pope Innocent X, another great work of his, which had a limited color palette. Juan de Pareja was of Moorish descent, giving him a darker skin tone and, combined with his dark garments, gives the painting a similarly limited palette. This darkness also feeds the tone of the piece, amplifying to tortured feeling of the slaves quite anger. The painting currently resides in The Met, along side other works by the same artist- including a smaller version of Portrait of Pope Innocent X- were it stands out with it’s depressing themes and
Professor Emily Ackerman
Art History (Art 3100, Section 07)
5/24/17
A Look into Velázquez’s Portrait of Juan de Pareja.
While the painting is but one form, it remains the medium most people think of when asked to consider art. Paintings are an integral part of art history, and can take many forms. Whether it be a landscape or a historical scene, paintings serve as a window into the age in which they were painting, giving the modern viewer a glimpse into the intrepid world of the baroque period. Diego Velazquez provides us with such a glimpse with his Portrait of Juan de Pareja, currently residing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Velazquez’s use of tenebrism and other elements in his portrait illustrating just some of the …show more content…
Juan de Pareja gazes out at the viewer, engaging him/her, communicating with his somber expression, all the injustice of being born to a slave, mixed race, in a time where both are looked down upon and ridiculed. Completely unable to control the circumstances of his birth, the viewer is sympathetic, but one wonders how the people of the baroque period must of felt viewing the painting in the Pantheon in 1650, as they did not live in the relatively tolerant society of the twenty first …show more content…
It may have been done to study techniques in color, as Velazquez was commissioned to create the Portrait of Pope Innocent X, another great work of his, which had a limited color palette. Juan de Pareja was of Moorish descent, giving him a darker skin tone and, combined with his dark garments, gives the painting a similarly limited palette. This darkness also feeds the tone of the piece, amplifying to tortured feeling of the slaves quite anger. The painting currently resides in The Met, along side other works by the same artist- including a smaller version of Portrait of Pope Innocent X- were it stands out with it’s depressing themes and