You are welcome, Roger. My question now is: what was Velazquez painting between 1627-28, i. e. from the time he had been portraying both king Felipe IV and the Infante Carlos standing, and 1631, when he retook portraying them and other royalties but now mostly in different stanzes, for example on horseback?
The answer is he, surely as a response to the criticism of his rivals at the court that he was a mere portraitist and unable to compete "in the lofty sphere of history painting", produced what would become two of his most celebrated works ever: The Triumph of Bachus ("Los Borrachos") painted circa 1629, shown below, and The Forge of Vulcan - painted in 1630, and which I show in my next post.
Diego Velazquez - The Triumph of Bachus (oil on canvas, c.1629)
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