Juan de Pareja, Afro-Spanish Artist From the Court of Phillip IV

    

                Spanish Baroque painter, Juan de Pareja’s life is enigmatic. Born into slavery around 1606 in the city of Comarca, near Antequera, his lineage is somewhat mysterious. It’s widely believed he was born to a young woman of African descent and a white Spanish father, possibly Moorish.[1] He came to be owned by painter, Diego Velazquez, lead artist in the court of King Phillip IV, around 1630, acting as his assistant. Sometime around 1631, Velazquez freed Pareja and the two worked together in his studio until Velazquez’ death in 1660. Pareja spent most of his life in Velazquez’ shadow, but on his own he was a magnificent painter in the Baroque style that was popular during Spain’s Golden Age. Over his lifetime, and after, he became the subject of many works of art. Diego Velazquez, himself painted a portrait of Pareja in 1649. He’s been the subject of many other famous artists’ works, including Salvador Dali. There are only ten existing known works of Pareja’s in the world. One of them, his portrait of King Philip IV, is on display at the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC. The few known works by Juan de Pareja, show the complex and intricate work that so many artists of his era, and others, tried to achieve, but he remains relatively unknown.

---

[1] "Juan de Pareja," Encyclopædia Britannica, January 30, 2018, , accessed March 09, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Juan-de-Pareja.

Portrait of Pareja by Diego Velazquez, ca. 1649.

Portrait of Juan de Pareja Adjusting a String on His Mandolin by Salvador Dali, ca. 1960.