Paintings between 1636 and 1640
by VELÁZQUEZ

Dwarfs, fools and jesters were present in large numbers at the Court of Philip IV. They were maintained by the King according to a tradition extending back well into the Middle Ages. Velázquez shows human nature in all its diversity when he presents the gallery of this strange class of society, with perfect honesty, never mocking or caricature them. Between 1636 and 1640 he painted the buffoons Pablo de Valladolid and Barbarroja, the dwarfs Calabacillas and Don Antonio el Inglés.

Velázquez demonstrates comparable briliance as a portraitist in imaginary subjects in the lively, amussing images of the philosopher Menippus and the classical author of animal fables, Aesop. These were painted at the end of the 1630s for the Torre de la Parada.


Preview Picture Data Info
Prince Baltasar Carlos with the Count-Duke of Olivares at the Royal Mews
c. 1636
Oil on canvas, 144 x 96,5 cm
Collection of the Duke of Westminster, London


Prince Baltasar Carlos with the Count-Duke of Olivares at the Royal Mews (detail)
c. 1636
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Duke of Westminster, London


Prince Baltasar Carlos with the Count-Duke of Olivares at the Royal Mews (detail)
c. 1636
Oil on canvas
Collection of the Duke of Westminster, London


The Buffoon Pablo de Valladolid
1636-37
Oil on canvas, 214 x 125 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


The Dwarf Don Juan Calabazas, called Calabacillas
1637-39
Oil on canvas, 106 x 83 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


The Buffoon Don Cristóbal de Castañeda y Pernia (Barbarroja)
1637-40
Oil on canvas, 200 x 121 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


The Buffoon Don Cristóbal de Castañeda y Pernia (detail)
1637-40
Oil on canvas
Museo del Prado, Madrid


Court Dwarf Don Antonio el Inglés
c. 1640-42
Oil on canvas, 142 x 107 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


Portrait of Don Gaspar de Guzman y Pimentel, Count-Duke of Olivares
c. 1638
Oil on canvas, 67 x 55 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg


Aesop
1639-41
Oil on canvas, 179 x 94 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


Menippus
1639-41
Oil on canvas, 179 x 94 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


The Needlewoman
c. 1640
Oil on canvas, 74 x 60 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington


Don Baltasar Carlos
c. 1640
Oil on canvas, 128,5 x 99 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna


Mars, God of War
c. 1640
Oil on canvas, 179 x 95 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


Self-Portrait
c. 1640
Oil on canvas, 46 x 38 cm
Museo de Bellas Artes, Valencia


Lady with a Fan
c. 1640
Oil on canvas, 95 x 70 cm
Wallace Collection, London



Summary of paintings by Velázquez
until 1620 | 1621-1630 | 1631-1635
Surrender of Breda | Equestrian portraits
Las Meninas | Las Hilanderas
1636-1640 | 1641-1650 | 1651-1660



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