Arts and Music Atlas

Works, Makers, Traditions
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Work

Portrait of Sebastián de Morra

Portraits

The Portrait of Sebastian de Morra is a painting by Diego Velazquez of Sebastian de Morra, a court dwarf and jester at the court of Philip IV of Spain, painted around 1644 and now held in the Prado in Madrid. Little is documented about de Morra's life beyond the fact that he was brought to Spain by Philip IV in 1643 and served the court for six years before his death in 1649; later-discovered inventories show he was also known by the nickname El Primo. Velazquez, once he became a court painter, portrayed court dwarfs with a warmer and more naturalistic style than earlier painters had used, and de Morra looks directly at the viewer, motionless and making no hand gestures, which has led one critic to read the painting as a denunciation of the court's treatment of de Morra and other dwarfs. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Year Created
1644 1
Medium
Oil on canvas 1
Location
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain 1
Classification
Genre
Painting 1
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Portrait of Sebastián de Morra (Wikipedia)
  • Lead section, second sentence
    It was painted around 1644 and is now in the Prado in Madrid.
  • Infobox, medium field
    Oil on canvas
  • Genre reference
    The Portrait of Sebastian de Morra is a painting by Diego Velazquez of Sebastian de Morra, a court dwarf and jester at the court of Philip IV of Spain, painted around 1644 and now held in the Prado in Madrid.
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.