As we studied yesterday, Velázquez used to retouch his paintings many times. As he was the court painter, he had constant access to the paintings he had painted for the Crown and this allowed him correct what he didn't like or what he wanted to improve. As Ángela has explained on her journal, as time goes by, the oil mixed with linseed oxidizes and parts of the painting covered by the painter become visible and we can observe what the creative process of the painter was like. Here you have some more examples of Velázquez's pentimenti:
- Jester Calabacillas: the pumpkin on the right has moved in the definitive version
- King Philip IV: Many changes were made on this painting: the hat, the cloak and the right hand of the king have a different position with respect to the original one.
Source: http://www.frick.org/sites/default/files/archivedsite/exhibitions/velazquez/conservation.htm
- Philip IV Hunter: the legs of the king and the harquebus had a different position originally:
Philip IV Hunter
- On Don Diego de Acedo, El Primo' s portrait, we can observe that while Velázquez was working on this canvas, he cleaned the brush in the background. Later, he covered the background with a layer of grey colour, but now the dark lines are visible.
Don Diego de Acedo, el Primo
If you want to learn more about pentimenti, here you have some additional links:
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/v/velazque/09/0901vela.html
http://100swallows.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/velasquezs-pentimenti/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentimento
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