In Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid, how is the History discussed?
The picture belongs to the group of portraits of jesters and "men of pleasure" of the court painted by Velázquez to decorate secondary rooms and passageways in the royal palaces. In these less important settings, the painter was able to test new expressive resources with greater freedom than in the official portraits of the royal family, with their need to portray the individuals in the best light.In 1701 it was at the Buen Retiro Palace, where in the inventory it was described as "portrait of Vn Bufón Con golilla called Pablillo, the one from Valladolid by Velázquez", valued with its black frame at 25 doubloons. In 1772 and 1794 it was inventoried in the Royal Palace of Madrid together with the portrait of the jester Don Juan de Austria, without mentioning the name of the portrayed subject. It went to the Academia de San Fernando in 1816, where it was known as "Portrait of a mayor", and in 1827 to the Museo del Prado, appearing in its 1828 catalogue as "Unknown Portrait". The French painter Édouard Manet, on a trip to Spain in 1865, wrote about the portrait to Henri Fantin-Latour:
Perhaps the most astonishing piece of painting that has ever been made is the picture entitled Portrait of a famous actor at the time of Philip IV (Pablillos Valladolid). The background disappears. It is air that surrounds the man, dressed entirely in black and full of life.
Philip IV Henri Fantin-Latour doubloon Museo del Prado Valladolid Buen Retiro Palace Royal Palace of Madrid Édouard Manet Academia de San Fernando Madrid