Diego Velasquez Flashcards
When was Rokeby Venus painted?
1649-51
What was Velasquez’s innovation?
Incorporate dramatic mannerism if Italian painters into Spanish tradition.
Which painters have been influenced by Velasquez?
Whilster, Dali, Sargent and Picasso
What did Manet refer to Velasquez as?
The painter’s painter.
In what was is Rokeby Venus rare?
One of only 4 female nudes by Velasquez. All other 3 lost.
Why is Rokeby Venus interesting considering when and where it was painted?
A time of religious severity in Spain. Inquisition had been dining, excommunicating and vanishing artists who painted sexually imposing and immoral works.
Painted for prime minister of Spanish King Phillip IV. Probably escaped censorship coz for private collection, away from public.
How is Venus traditionally shown? (In Italian; Venetian tradition)
Lying on couach facing audience. W/ Cupid and 3 graces (youth, mirth, elegance)
Or else Show as birth (Botticellis famous emerging from seanin scallop shell) or as a Venus Pudica (Benus of modesty; covering breasts with arm)
Rokeby Venus has been called what?
What biblical phrase is significant here and why?
Painting of reflection. Metaphorical and figurative.
Her reflection on her self, beauty and its effect on others. She sees us in the mirror.
Audience and subject seeing each other through mirror is important. Seeing the world ‘through a glass, darkly’.
Stylistic choices to note of Rokeby Venus?
Subtle muted palette for venus’ supple back.
Single black brushstroke departing flesh from velvet running length of body. V unusual.
How is Rokeby Venus politically and socially significant?
Often in debates about how feminine beauty and depiction of women in art.
Targeted by Mary Richardson, suffragette. Slashed meat clever 1914. Journalists used langage making it sound as though living human attacked. Shows Velasquez close to bridge between reality and painted image.
