Paintings between 1636 and 1640

Dwarfs, fools and jesters were present in large numbers at the Court of Philip IV. They were maintained by the King according to a tradition extending back well into the Middle Ages. Velázquez shows human nature in all its diversity when he presents the gallery of this strange class of society, with perfect honesty, never mocking or caricature them. Between 1636 and 1640 he painted the buffoons Pablo de Valladolid and Barbarroja, the dwarfs Calabacillas and Don Antonio el Inglés.

Velázquez demonstrates comparable briliance as a portraitist in imaginary subjects in the lively, amussing images of the philosopher Menippus and the classical author of animal fables, Aesop. These were painted at the end of the 1630s for the Torre de la Parada.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 9 minutes):
Antonio Vivaldi: Sonata in D minor RV 62 op. 1 No. 12 (La Follia)