The Book
The works of Diego de Silva Velásquez are mainly to be found in the Prado museum in his native Spain. Yet several have found their way into Russian collections. This book contains colour illustrations of the paintings in the Russian museums, as well as several examples of the artist's work in Budapest, Vienna, the National Gallery in London, and the Prado, and paintings copied from his originals by assistants in his studio. Interesting comparisons are made between paintings which were definitely by the artist and those attributed to his studio or his school. There are also photographs of certain Velásquez masterpieces, such as Huth Isabel, which have disappeared. In addition to his religious paintings, such as Christ at the House of Martha and Mary and The Adoration of the Magi, there are examples of Velásquez's work which provide a keen insight into the life and times of ordinary people, such as the Waterseller of Seville and the various versions of the painting known as The Luncheon. However, Velásquez is best known for his paintings of prominent members of the Spanish court, especially his delightful depiction of the Infanta Margarita, the Spanish princess, at various stages of her life. The cover of the book depicts the Infanta Margarita in a dress of pink and silver, now in the Museum of Western and Eastern Art, Kiev. The beautiful reproductions are supplemented with an informative and scholarly text, including provenances in tabular form, giving the approximate dates of the paintings, and their whereabouts. The stories behind many of the paintings are a fascinating account of life in the 17th-century Spanish court. There is a concise, carefully-chosen bibliography, and plenty of contemporary documentation about Velásquez's world, including prints of his patrons and contemporaries.
The Author
Liudmila Kagané is curator of paintings by the Spanish Old Masters at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. She is an expert on portraiture by such painters as Murillo, Zurbaran, and Velásquez and has written extensively on the subject.
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