Product Overview
From Follett
"This catalogue is published in conjunction with Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic Painter, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from April 3 to July 16, 2023."--Title page verso;Includes bibliographical references (pages 160-172) and index. "This exhibition offers a . . . look at the life and artistic achievements of seventeenth-century Afro-Hispanic painter Juan de Pareja (ca. 1608-1670). Largely known today as the subject of The Met's iconic portrait by Diego Velazquez, Pareja was enslaved in Velazquez's studio for over two decades before becoming an artist in his own right. This presentation is the first to tell his story and examine the role of enslaved artisanal labor and a multiracial society in the art and material culture of Spain's so-called 'Golden Age.' Representations of Spain's Black and Morisco populations in works by Francisco de Zurbaran, Bartolome Esteban Murillo, and Velazquez join works that chart the ubiquity of enslaved labor across media, from sculpture to silver. The Met's portrait, executed by Velazquez in Rome in 1650, is contextualized by his other portraits from this period and the original document whereby Pareja was freed upon return to Madrid. The exhibition culminates in the first gathering of Pareja's rarely seen paintings, some of enormous scale, which engage with the canons of Western art while reverberating throughout the African diaspora"--Provided by publisher.
From the Publisher
A provocative study of a freedman painter that recognizes the labor of enslaved artists and artisans in seventeenth-century Spain Diego Velazquez's portrait of Juan de Pareja (ca. 1608-1670) has long been a landmark of European art, but this provocative study focuses on its subject: an enslaved man who went on to build his own successful career as an artist. This catalogue--the first scholarly monograph on Pareja-- discusses the painter's ties to the Madrid School of the 1660s and revises our understanding of artistic production during Spain's Golden Age, with a focus on enslaved artists and artisans. The authors illuminate the highly skilled labor within Seville's multiracial society; the role of Black saints and confraternities in the promotion of Catholicism among enslaved populations; and early twentieth-century scholar Arturo Schomburg's project to recover Pareja's legacy. The book also includes the first illustrated and annotated list of known works attributed to Pareja.
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press
Exhibition Schedule:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (April 3-July 16, 2023)