Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was born in
1599 in Seville, Spain, to a family of minor nobility. He demonstrated
an aptitude for painting from an early age, becoming an apprentice to
the painter Juan de Herrera when he was around 11 years old. The boy
went on to study for five years with Francisco Pacheco, known for his Mannerist technical style.
Velázquez would eventually marry Pacheco’s daughter, Juana, and the elder painter would remain a mentor to him. By the 1620s, Velázquez’s early work had earned him a following in Seville.
In 1625, after a ten-month siege, the city of Breda in southern Holland surrendered to the Spaniards under the famed Spanish General Don Ambrogio Spinola. The painting illustrates the ceremonial exchange of keys that took place three days after the official capitulation of the Dutch forces at Breda. Thus the focus of the painting is not on the battle, but rather the reconciliation. It demonstrated that Spinola was a fair winner.
Velázquez would eventually marry Pacheco’s daughter, Juana, and the elder painter would remain a mentor to him. By the 1620s, Velázquez’s early work had earned him a following in Seville.
In 1625, after a ten-month siege, the city of Breda in southern Holland surrendered to the Spaniards under the famed Spanish General Don Ambrogio Spinola. The painting illustrates the ceremonial exchange of keys that took place three days after the official capitulation of the Dutch forces at Breda. Thus the focus of the painting is not on the battle, but rather the reconciliation. It demonstrated that Spinola was a fair winner.
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