Biography

Spanish painter, the mulatto son of a female slave. His mother was a slave named Zulema and his father, whom he never met, was thought to have been a white Spaniard. According to one source, Pareja was orphaned at age five when his mother died, and was taken in by his master's mistress. Juan lived with her for many years. Her nephew, Diego Velázquez, inherited Juan following his aunt's death. Other sources say Juan de Pareja was not a slave but a servant to Diego Velázquez.

He is primarily known as a member of the household and workshop of Velázquez who painted a portrait of him (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). He was also a painter in his own right; his 1661 work The Calling of St. Matthew (sometimes also referred to as The Vocation of St Matthew) is currently on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.