Baroque
I find that the portrait captures the eye with all its elegance, the child is being served by several female attendants who appear to have her livelihood in their hands. She is certainly the center of attention, it's like she has a captive audience. The setting is obviously showing us that she is of a royalty of sorts, the clothing alone depicts that she certainly is more than just a common folk. I find it interesting that the artist also included himself in the portrait.
The portrait/painting is not necessarily something I would purchase, although I do admire its qualities
Some of his famous artworks include The Supper at Emmaus (1618 – 1623), The Surrender of Breda (1635), Portrait of Juan de Pareja (1650), Portrait of Innocent X (1650), and Las Meninas (1656), the latter of which is one of the most famous artworks by the artist due to the strategic rendering of compositional elements like space, color, perspective, and line.
It depicts Infanta Margarita, who was King Philip IV’s daughter. She is surrounded by female attendants with her in the center richly clad as royalty. We can also notice the artist depicting himself in the background while he is in the process of painting the scene.
Baroque Art - The Key Artists and Paintings of the Baroque Period (artincontext.org)
Hello Jill,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating painting. I find it interesting that the artist painted himself in this piece, which is not unusual, however, what is odd to me is the artist's placement in the painting; he seems to be placing himself in the stance of importance (mid-painting). He is directly behind the child who is clearly the main focus but also in front of the royal family depicted in the self-portrait at the back of the painting. The more I look at this painting, the more I like it...I really appreciate the angelical look of the little girl, who appears to be roughly 5 or 6 years of age, but still has an infantile look and softness to her face, that is clearly captured.
The warm tones really emphasize the elegance and high fashion of the piece. It is insane to see the attention that was given to royalty children, let alone receive a painting showing so. I am assuming the piece was commissioned by the King? If so, I can imagine just how much he wanted to show off his riches and care towards his children.
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