Juan de Pareja
by Diego Velázquez, 1650
Artwork Details
Details
- Year
- 1650
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 81.3 cm × 69.9 cm (32 × 27.5 in)
Cite or Embed This Work
APA · MLA · Chicago1-click academic citation and embeddable “On View” museum badge for articles, syllabi, and research.
Diego Velázquez completed this Juan de Pareja in 1650 in Rome. Pareja was Velázquez's enslaved assistant, of Moorish descent. The portrait's dignity and humanity astonished Roman viewers. Shortly after completing it, Velázquez freed Pareja, who became a painter himself.
The portrait captures Pareja's alert intelligence and self-possession. His fine lace collar and green-brown cloak suggest a man of substance, not servitude. Velázquez reportedly made this portrait as practice before painting Pope Innocent X. The Metropolitan Museum acquired it in 1971.
More by Diego Velázquez
View all →
Also at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
View all →Sculpture
R
Rolltop desk
David Roentgen, 1776
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Sculpture
L
Lion felling a bull, from a marble pediment
Ancient Greek (Unknown), -500
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Sculpture
M
Marble statue of a lion
Ancient Greek (Unknown), -390
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
S
Supper at Emmaus
Diego Velázquez
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Related Works
Works that share an artist, movement, museum, genre, palette or theme with Juan de Pareja.
- Same artist
- Same movement
Portrait of Innocent X
Diego Velázquez, 1650
- Same artist
- Same movement
Portrait of a Young Man
Diego Velázquez
- Same artist
- Same movement
Don Cristobal Suarez de Ribera
Diego Velázquez
- Same movement
- Same museum
The Penitent Magdalen
Georges de La Tour, 1640
- Same movement
- Same museum
View of Toledo
El Greco, 1600
- Same movement
Judith Beheading Holofernes
Caravaggio, 1599
- Same movement
The Calling of Saint Matthew
Caravaggio, 1600
- Same movement
The Bean Eater
Annibale Carracci, 1584
- Same movement
The Laughing Cavalier
Frans Hals, 1624
- Same movement
Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba
Claude Lorrain, 1648
- Same movement
Judith Slaying Holofernes
Artemisia Gentileschi, 1620
- Same movement
Charles I at the Hunt
Anthony van Dyck, 1635
About Juan de Pareja
Juan de Pareja (c. 1606-1670) was enslaved in Velázquez's household but trained secretly as a painter. Velázquez freed him in 1650. Pareja later had his own successful career as an artist.
The portrait treats an enslaved man with profound dignity and humanity. It challenged social hierarchies and demonstrated that artistic genius could recognize worth regardless of status.
Diego Velázquez pareja was Velázquez's enslaved assistant, of Moorish descent. The portrait's dignity and humanity astonished Roman viewers.
Own Art Like This
Luxury wall art with the same mood and energy. Gallery-quality canvas, no museum crowds.
Browse Collection