Did Juan de Pareja lead a double life? Tempranillo!

Above you see the portrait of Juan de Pareja (1606 or 1610-1670). Look at him carefully. What do you see? Certainly his light cinnamon-colored skin and his full, unevenly shaped hair point to his Moorish heritage. He wears a white lace collar, slightly rumbled, over very ordinary, dark, well-worn clothing – no satins or silks. He looks out at the viewer with his eyes cast to his right, yet they still meet the viewer with sensitivity and intelligence. He is a person of quiet dignity, one who demands and deserves basic respect for his humanity. Juan de Pareja referred to himself as Velázquez’ “assistant.” By law, however, Juan de Pareja was a slave.

Velázquez came to Madrid from his home in Seville in 1622 and began making a name for himself. By 1624, the new king, Phillip IV, had moved the painter and his family permanently to Madrid. Veláquez became particularly famous for his portraits and ultimately became the favorite painter of King Phillip IV’s royal court. The culmination of that sojourn as court painter is Las Meninas (1656), his painting of the Spanish princess, Margarita Teresa, and various courtiers, with the indication from a mirror view of the King and Queen coming to visit the studio.

Velázquez was so in love with showing off his mastery that on one of his sojourns in Italy, on a visit to the Pope in 1650, he decided to do a quick portrait of his slave, Juan de Pareja. The portrait (see above) was of such quality and expression that when it was put on display “…in the opinion of all the painters of different nations, everything else seemed like painting but this alone like truth” (see metmuseum.org). There are some who say that the strength of the expression captured in this painting and its great acclaim led to Velázquez’ decision to free Juan de Pareja in 1650. So there it is, all wrapped up in a tidy package, a lovely story short enough for any online mini-biography. However, a deeper dive indicates something that might have been quite a bit different.

“Ni el mar tiene narajas, ni Sevilla tiene amor.”

Velázquez was from Seville. However, he had an aunt who lived some 80 miles away in Antequera in the Province of Malaga. It was there in 1606 or perhaps 1610, about three years before (or one year after) the Moors were expulsed from the city, that Juan de Pareja was born to a Moorish slave named Zulema and a Spanish father named Juan. Zulema worked in the household of Velázquez’ aunt, but Zulema died when Juan was 5 years old, leaving him as a household slave. He was known in his lifetime as a sensitive, perceptive, and literate person. All of that must have begun in that household.

Here is where it gets interesting. Slaves were not allowed to become painters. In fact, during all the years that Juan worked in Velázquez’ studio, beginning in 1630, he was not allowed to paint by order of Velázquez, as slaves were not deemed capable of doing the kind of work the master painter could do. Velázquez was not necessarily evil for that, for he like others adhered to what was the societal norm. The thing is, of course, that it was self-serving as it helped eliminte competition and boosted the ego at the expense of someone else. Yet, before arrival in Madrid to work with Velázquez, Juan de Pareja had gone to Seville, and had passed the examination to be designated offically as a painter. In fact in 1630, the year he moved to Madrid after Velazquez’ aunt died and left her nephew all her property, de Pareja got permission from a high official in Seville to move to Madrid to further his studies in painting. These documents are referred to by those who question that Juan de Pareja was really a slave. Yet in 1650, the manumission documents issued by Velazquez to free Juan are also on record.

Did Juan de Pareja lead a double life?

Here is my theory. Juan de Pareja, obviously went off to Seville, a city where he was not known as a slave and passed the exam that allowed him to become a painter. He also got formal permission for that move to Madrid most likely percipitated by the death of Velázquez’ aunt and her nephew’s taking over of her estate. However, the reason he gave in Seville was that he wanted to further his studies in painting. This would be in alignment with his status in Seville as a painter. It is said that Velázquez forbade Juan from painting, yet de Pareja painted in secret.

This leads to the most commonly told version of how he officially got emancipated in Spain. In 1654 King Phillip IV came for an official visit to Velázquez’ studio. Juan was to set up the display of paintings. In doing so, he put his own paintings up to be seen first. When the king arrived and marvelled at the wonderful work, de Pareja prostrated himself before the king and asked to become known as a painter. When Velzquez arrives to greet the king, his majesty says in shock that a man who paints like this cannot be a slave! Oops! Velázquez got the message and freed Juan. (There are manumission documents in Rome in 1650 showing that Velazquez freed de Pareja, so perhaps it had to be done in Spain, too.)

However, in an interesting turn about that probably hints at the long relationship of de Pareja and the Velázquez family, Juan de Pareja, who had worked with Velázquez for 24 years at that point, continued to work in his studio until Velázquez’ death in 1660. At that point, however, he worked openly as a painter. Juan continued to live and work in Madrid until his own death in 1670. There are at least nine of his paintings that hang in museums around the world, including in the Prado in Madrid, at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, and several museums in the U.S.A. A full list of his paintings and the museums are given here en.wikipidia.org

In a way, art was Juan de Pareja’s personl burden and frustration, yet it may also have been his lifeline and ultimately his doorway to freedom. When I look at his famous portrait, I see not only dignity but also a quiet courage, the courage it took to be who he really was, a talented painter, even in a society that said he could not be that. For another perspective on this story and on the painting of Juan de Parejo, visit the Artist Project piece by Julie Mehretu on youtube.com.

For more on Juan de Pareja check these articles: “The Soul of Juan de Pareja” by Terence Clarke, huffpost.com; “Juan de Pareja” by Robert Fikes, blackpast.org; “A Closer Look at Diego Velázquez’ Portrait of Juan de Pareja – ONSTAGE” onstage.goodmantheatre.org; and for a scholarly article on Pareja’s life as a painter, there is “The Fall into Oblivion of the Works of the Slave Painter, Juan de Pareja” by Carmen Fracchia of the University of London on researchgate.net

In an update to the list of references above is a new article (04/09/23) in the New York Times “A Familiar Face at the Met, Now in His Own Light” nytimes.com

The paintings used here are in Public Domain.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

The Wines of La Rioja, Olé!

The history of La Rioja as a wine producing area is long. In the 11th century B.C., the Phoenicians were present in the area and making wine. A thousand years later, the Romans were cultivating grapes there. In the Middle Ages the pilgrims to Santiago de Campostela passed through the area and reported on the wonderful quality of the wines. (What? Wine while on a holy pilgrimage! Why not?). One of the keys to the region’s success is a grape that is native to the area, the Tempranillo.

Tempranillo is used in blends made in Rioja that are a good and less expensive alternative to French Bordeaux. There is another French connection and that came about in the 19th century during the phylloxera epidemic that destroyed many of France’s vineyards. With the devastation in France, French vintners came to Spain to invest in wine-growing areas and along with them came aging the wine up to 13-18 months in French Oak. This process gives the wines subtle notes of spice and allows some Tempranillo wines to have a flavor between that of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.

However, French Oak is expensive, so the Spanish growers sought out a more economical oak barrel and found it in America. American oak can be called “expressive” (how very American) and adds flavors of dill, vanilla, and even coconut. It is American oak that is used in the production of Vina Real Rioja Blanco, a white wine that pairs wonderfully with seafood and paella.

La Rioja has some 14,800 wine growers whose wines are present in 130 countries around the globe. It is Spain’s best wine-growing region and to quote a comment in VinePair.com, “La Rioja is Spain in a glass of red wine.” With so much going on there in terms of wine production made with Tempranillo and blends of it with other grapes like the Graciano, it is no wonder that the area is primed for wine tourism.

Ayngelina Brogan presents a little taste of what it is like to visit the bodegas (wine cellars) of Haro in her video “Where to Drink Wine in Haro” youtube.com For a more substantial tour, try “The Wines of Rioja and Ribera del Duero” youtube.com

The Tempranillo grape has found new homes around the world in South Africa, Argentina and of course, California which has the perfect cool nights and hot days that bring out the best in the grape. However, Spain is still its heart, producing a wide variety of wines either made of only Tempranillo grapes or ones in which the grape is blended with others. Age is important in things other than oak barrels, as Baron de Chivel wine proves by producing its dark cherry and spice-like aromas from 100 year old vines.

So there is no reason not to try this wonderful competitor to Bordeaux or other international wines. One way is to join a wine club like Cellars Wine Club which has an International Wine Club. See this link cellarswineclub.com or look at the Cellars Wine Club page in the right column under Pages.

Photos are either free stock photos or are live-linked to specific websites.

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©marjorie vernelle 2020

Coming Next on Of Art and Wine: Picasso and Matisse, plus Tibouren (Antibois) Wine

How wonderful! Matisse’s Dance being done to the strains of Picasso’s Guitar. Oh, had only their relationship always been as harmonious. Two of the greatest artists of the 20th century, two different temperaments, a great friendship, and a great rivalry all happened along the French Riviera. Perhaps a bit more of the wonderful light wines grown along the Côte d’Azur might have helped.