-
Experts are still wondering
-
who might be the girl pictured
in this symbolic painting
-
by Diego Velázquez,
without reaching an agreement.
-
It is an intimate portrait of a girl
about 6 or 8 years old.
-
Maybe it was someone
very close to the artist
-
since it is one of only two
paintings he made of children
-
who weren't royalty.
-
Some think it was one
of Velázquez' granddaughters,
-
daughter of Francisca Velázquez
and his apprentice Juan Bautista,
-
who married in 1633.
-
Whoever the model was,
the girl has an hypnotic presence.
-
Velázquez achieved
a superb realistic effect
-
with minimal artistic means.
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TREASURES OF THE HISPANIC
SOCIETY OF AMERICA
-
Doménikos Theotokópoulos,
known as El Greco,
-
was an artist born in Greece
who settled in Spain
-
around 1576.
-
His work was a milestone
for European painting
-
as well as for the counter-reformation,
a movement of the church
-
that arose in opposition
to Protestantism in the 16th century.
-
In this work El Greco painted
Saint Jerome penitent
-
with a naked and aged face.
-
His gaze is focused on a crucifix
while he beats his chest
-
with a flint rock.
-
On a desk
there are a skull and a hourglass
-
which symbolize the vanity of whim
and the passage of time.
-
His cardinal hat is hanging
to the left of the saint.
-
On the ledge in front of him,
there are books and a quill,
-
symbols of the translation
he made of the Bible to latin,
-
known as the Vulgata.
-
TREASURES OF THE HISPANIC
SOCIETY OF AMERICA
-
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
was born in Seville around 1618.
-
His artistic career focused
mainly in his home town,
-
which turned him into one
of the main Sevillian artists.
-
The episode seen in his work
comes from the Gospel of Luke
-
in the New Testament.
It tells the story of a young man
-
who demanded his family
inheritance from his father,
-
which he then squandered abroad.
-
The young man ended up
starving and minding pigs,
-
which you can see
on the background.
-
The son admitted to his wrongdoing
and decided to go back home
-
to ask his father for forgiveness.
-
He not only welcomed him into the house,
he forgave him, gave him clothes,
-
and threw a party to celebrate his return.
-
The young man turned into a symbol
of remorse and piety
-
for believers, thus creating
the famous tale
-
of the return of the prodigal son.
On Demand - 946
