An Old Woman Frying Eggs Analysis

Diego Velázquez was a 17th century Spanish painter whom became known for his realistic and complex portraits. Velázquez was talented by nature, at the age of eleven, he commenced a six year apprenticeship with Francisco Pacheco. Diego Velázquez is best known for his illustrious painting “Las Meninas”, it sits in the Museo de Prado in Madrid, Spain. He also created “An Old Woman Frying Eggs”, and “Rokeby Venus.” Consequently to Velázquez being hired as a court painter by King Philip IV to paint different portraits and paintings for his household, “Las Meninas” became one of his most celebrated paintings. The focal point of this painting is King Philip IV daughter Princess Margarita. In this painting, Margarita is being tended to by a staff

Velázquez painted this picture when he was about 19 years old. This painting is located at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburg. He was fond of depicting the people and the objects around him in his day to day life. In “Old Woman Frying Eggs” Diego Velázquez uses a strong light source coming from the left of the painting to focus on the main parts. There is an immense amount light on the old woman’s face, it illuminates her, producing a dark shadow to the boys’ right side of the face. Velázquez had used working class people in his early paintings before being hired by King Philip IV. “Velázquez preferred to use common folk as models to assert a harsh realism in his canvases. Velázquez brought many a mythological subject down to earth by portraying ordinary facial types and naturalistic attitudes I his principal characters.” The use of realism is seen with the attention to detail on every part of this painting. For instance, the way the eggs are cooked and the bright red color of the frying pan. The speck of white on the frying pan reminds one of a flash when a photograph one has taken with a

In the beginning, this painting was at Rokeby Hall in Yorkshire. According to the National Gallery, where the painting is located now, “This is the only surviving example of a female nude by Velázquez. The subject was rare in Spain because it met with the disapproval of the Church.” It also took on the disapproval of Mary Richardson, a suffragette, which is a women’s organization that support a woman’s right to vote. Richardson destroyed the painting with a meat cleaver while on display in the 19th century because she felt men were staring at the picture for sexual excitement. She suffered the same Medieval mentality of the Christian church. All the same, when the National Gallery bought the destroyed oil painting, they were able to repair the damages it suffered. I gaze at this painting and understand a work of artistry. A beautiful Roman Goddess lays down with Cupid her son. The innocence in Cupid’s eyes is breath taking and the contrast in color of the sheets and her consistency is awesome, she is looking up to her own beauty as so should the