Unprecedented Velázquez exhibition opens at Paris’s Grand Palais

Latest update : 2015-03-26

One of the most comprehensive exhibitions of works by Spanish Golden Age master Diego Velázquez ever shown opened at the Grand Palais museum in Paris this week.

Born in Seville in 1599, Velázquez was leader of the Spanish school, and official artist to King Philip IV at a time when Spain dominated the world.

While the timelessness of his art has been compared to the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Caravaggio and Rembrandt, this is the first time that a complete section of his life’s work has ever been shown in Paris.

The rarity of his paintings – there are scarcely more than 100 – and their concentration at Madrid’s Prado Museum have made this exhibition a particular challenge.

The Grand Palais show features loans of the artist’s greatest works from other galleries, including “Joseph’s Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob” from the Escorial in Madrid, “Venus at her Mirror” from London’s National Gallery and the “Portrait of Pope Innocent X” from Rome’s Galleria Doria Pamphilj.

Newly-discovered works are also on display, some of them for the first time, such as “The Education of the Virgin” from the Yale Art Gallery and the “Portrait of the Inquisitor Sebastian de Huerta” (from a private collection).

The exhibition, which opened at the Grand Palais on Wednesday, continues until July 13, 2015.

Date created : 2015-03-26