1. Diego Velázquez, 1599-1660
Pope Innocent X
So I offer for your pleasure
my nomination for The Greatest Portrait Ever Painted.
When the world's very greatest painters are ranked, Diego
da Silva Velázquez almost invariably is placed
at the very top. Velázquez combined clarity of
vision with sureness of hand — the utter realism
here is stunning almost beyond words. The effect is achieved
with a painterly directness which continues to astonish
after four centuries.
The contemporary portrait
artist would do well to study the basic decisions taken
by the artist in approaching this subject. First, the
sitter occupies his chair squarely, directly facing a
large window (note the small symmetrical shadow beneath
the nose). The shadow cast by the chair onto the red velvet
background at right center is a mystery — what causes
it? (Answer: the artist is free to place his darks where
they are needed.)
Take a close look at the
two gilded finials on the top of the chair — most
of us would pour much more effort and precision into the
rendering of these than Velázquez has — he
has rendered the finials with with flickering, freely-placed
brushstrokes. The sparkling highlights of the satin cap
and jacket are marvelously convincing. The right hand
almost twitches with movement. The papal face is worldly-wise
and almost cunning in its expression. The force and power
of the portrait is in the presentation of the human essence
of the individual — here we see the Vicar of Christ
as a very real human being.
Galleria Doria Pamphili,
Rome
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