Velázquez: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

Diego Velázquez: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
oil on canvas, 1618
London National Gallery
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_in_the_house_of_Marthe_and_Marry_V%C3%A9lazquez.jpg)
no copyright infringement intended

Splendid ambiguity! We have here a kitchen with two women caught in what appears to be an argument, while the scene in the house of Martha and Mary (Luke 10, 38-42) can be seen on the wall. Is the biblical scene a painting within the painting (the foreground women referring to it in their argument)? Or is it rather a mirror (or a hatch), and the kitchen is within the house of Martha and Mary (the foreground women actually witnessing the biblical scene)?

Anyway, in each case, painting within the painting, mirror on the wall, or hatch, the biblical story comes here indirectly. What we see directly, there are these two women in the kitchen: by their activities and their argument, they parallel the story of Martha and Mary!


(Velázquez)

Velázquez: Vieja Friendo Huevos

Diego Velázquez: Vieja friendo huevos
(Old Woman Cooking Eggs)
oil on canvas, ca. 1618
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VEL%C3%81ZQUEZ_-_Vieja_friendo_huevos_%28National_Galleries_of_Scotland,_1618._%C3%93leo_sobre_lienzo,_100.5_x_119.5_cm%29.jpg)
no copyright infringement intended

Like other early works by the artist, it shows the influence of chiaroscuro, with a strong light source coming in from the left, illuminating the woman, her utensils and the poaching eggs but throwing the background and the boy standing to her right into deep shadow. Here the chiaroscuro is very intense, so much so that it would be impossible to see the wall at the bottom of the painting but for the basket hanging from it, but also managing to combine the murky darkness and high contrasts of light and shadow with a use of subtle hues and a palette dominated by ochres and browns.

(wiki)

(Velázquez)

Velázquez - The Needlewoman

Diego Velázquez - The Needlewoman
oil on canvas, ca. 1640/1650
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
no copyright infringement intended

Because the painting remains unfinished, the steps in the artist's process are visible. He began by priming the canvas with a gray-green base. Next, he indicated the main forms of the composition, sketching them in with darker paint, then brushing them in with broad areas of opaque color, and finally, building up the face -- the only area that appears to be finished -- with transparent layers of glaze, giving it the effect of flesh seen through softly diffused light.

(NGA)

(Velázquez)

(Washington DC National Gallery of Art)

Las Meninas de Velázquez

Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour)
oil on canvas, 1656/57
Museo del Prado
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Las_Meninas,_by_Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez,_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg)
no copyright infringement intended

(Velázquez)

Velázquez

Diego Velázquez - Selfportrait
oil on canvas, ca. 1640
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez_Autorretrato_45_x_38_cm_-_Colecci%C3%B3n_Real_Academia_de_Bellas_Artes_de_San_Carlos_-_Museo_de_Bellas_Artes_de_Valencia.jpg)
no copyright infringement intended

An artist from the Baroque age foretelling the Realism and Impressionism.

• Las Meninas
• The Needlewoman
• Vieja Friendo Huevas 
• Christ in the House of Martha and Mary 

(Old Masters)