KING PHILIP IV. OF SPAIN
By VELAZQUEZ


KING PHILIP IV. OF SPAIN
By VELAZQUEZ (1599-1660)
IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON

It is a remarkable tribute to the enduring power of the genius of Velazquez, that while he exercised but little influence over the minds of his contemporaries, he profoundly affected the painters of modern times, particularly in France and throughout Europe. Among those whose works show clearly the impress of his genius may be mentioned Corot, Millet, Whistler and Sargent, most particularly the last named, whose methods as a portrait painter must inevitably recall the works of the master.

Velazquez was a Court painter, and it was only natural that he should confine his attention to portraiture. Painting, however, was by no means his life-work; it was rather the fruit of his leisure. He filled a succession of offices in the Royal Court of Spain, in the last of which, that of Marshal of the Court, he contracted the fever which caused his death, while arranging a Royal journey to France.

His work is characterised by a technical perfection unique in art, yet so sure and facile that Sir Joshua Reynolds, himself a painter of almost incredible facility, said that he was trying to do with great labour what Velazquez did at once. His colours are pure and sparkling, while his portraits are marked by a truthfulness to life and by an insight into character which make them types for all time.

King Philip IV. was the painter's master and patron, and his patronage has been richly repaid by the immortality which has been conferred upon him. This picture has been well described as " a harmony in black and silver." The King stands, a pallid figure clad in sombre magnificence, against a table. One feels the chill of his pride as one realises the coldness of the man of whom it was said that he laughed but three times in his life.

From the book "Famous Paintings" Volume 2 printed in 1913.

Large files of this public domain print are available at Stock Photos at Songs of Praise
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Online "Name the Painting"









Diego Velazquez
at Web Museum, Paris

Velazquez
scroll down at the ArtChive

Paintings by Velazquez
extensive display by year at the Web Gallery of Art

Online Book about Velazquez
Gutenberg


Famous Paintings in this Series





James Archer
My Great Grandmother


Bashkirtseff
The Meeting


Bouguereau
Charity


John Brett
From the Dorsetshire Cliffs


Arnesby Brown
The River Bank


Joseph Clark
Mother's Darling


John Constable
The Hay-Wain


Jean Baptiste Camille
Corot
The Fisherman's Hut


Jean Baptiste Camille
Corot
A Flood


Leonardo Da Vinci
Monna Lisa


Edouard Detaille
The Dream


Henri Fantin-Latour
Flowers


Thomas Gainsborough
Queen Charlotte


Thomas Gainsborough
The Market Cart


Jean Baptiste Greuze
The Head of a Girl


Jean Baptiste Greuze
Fidelity


James Clark Hook
Home With the Tide


Alfred William Hunt
Windsor Castle


Josef Israels
The Shipwrecked Mariner


B.W. Leader
The Stream in Summer-time


Madame Vigee Le Brun
Portrait of the Artist

Alphonse Legros
A Canal With a Fisherman


Anton Mauve
Watering Horses


J.L.E. Meissonier
The Cavalier


Sir J.E. Millais
Speak! Speak!


Sir J.E. Mallais
My First Sermon


George Morland
The Reckoning


George Morland
The Inside of a Stable


Murillo
The Immaculate Conception
of the Virgin


Alfred Parsons
When Nature Painted
All Things Gay


Ralph Peacock
The Sisters


Rembrandt
Syndics of the
Cloth Merchants' Guild


Guido Reni
"Ecce Homo"


Sir Joshua Reynolds
Portrait of Mrs. Richard Hoare
With Her Infant Son


Briton Riviere
The Temptation
in the Wilderness


Dante Gabriel
Rossetti
Day Dreams


John Singer Sargent
Miss Ellen Terry
as Lady Macbeth


Lady Stanley
(Dorothy Tennant)
His First Offence


Jan Steen
Grace Before Meat


Marcus Stone
On the Road from
Waterloo to Paris


Constant Troyon
Watering Cattle


H.S. Tuke
"All Hands to the Pumps"


Velazquez
King Philip IV. of Spain


S.E. Waller
Sweethearts and Wives


Thomas Webster
The Smile

Index
Famous Paintings Volume 1
Art Gallery

Index
Famous Paintings Volume 2
Art Gallery

Index
Art Appreciation
Lessons