Entertainment... How to look at a painting of ... Velazquez again.

An Tincéir · Mar 7, 2021

gmag said:
Hello everyone, I hope and wish you all are well, and your families and friends ...

Well let's go!

I have chosen this painting, also by Velazquez, because it has something that I want to show.

It is only one thing, which we have not talked about in the previous paintings, and it is something very important, and that not all art lovers know, and know how to apply even if they have heard about it.

I want to put more cheerful pictures, they will come, I hope.

Now, I leave you to say anything you think about the painting, it does not have to be the one that has motivated me to put it, there are interesting things to say, of course ... and you and your comments make the post interesting.

Thank you!!

The light sources in the picture are contradictory. The natural light should be coming from a low sun through the window behind the black man’s head thus creating that shadow. But that would also create shadows on the right hand side of all the other elements. If the light emanates from the child’s face the black man’s face should be illuminated but the RHS of the other faces would only be in half light.

RemysMimi · Mar 7, 2021

Camino Chrissy said:
The most unusual thing I notice is that the face of the black man has no light shining on him at all, yet his white collar and clothing are full of light, just as is everyone else in the room is.
The baby is wrapped in swaddling clothes with an additional band holding his arms down. The painting seems to be of the Nativity, celebrating the birth of Jesus, yet the child does not look like a newborn.

This seems to be the case of most if not all of his paintings which feature blacks

Jeff Mayor · Mar 7, 2021

Camino Chrissy said:
The most unusual thing I notice is that the face of the black man has no light shining on him at all, yet his white collar and clothing are full of light, just as is everyone else in the room is.
The baby is wrapped in swaddling clothes with an additional band holding his arms down. The painting seems to be of the Nativity, celebrating the birth of Jesus, yet the child does not look like a newborn.

A closer look at the painting does reveal light on the face of the black man particularly around the nose. There is also a tradition that the Magi’s arrival was not at the birth of the Christ child.

Camino Chrissy · Mar 7, 2021

Jeff Mayor said:
A closer look at the painting does reveal light on the face of the black man particularly around the nose. There is also a tradition that the Magi’s arrival was not at the birth of the Christ child.

I did see that smidgen of light around his nose, but in poportion to the bright white collar it did not seem natural. I am staying with my original opinion, but thanks!

Kathor1 · Mar 7, 2021

the face of the black man has no light shining on him at all

This seems to be the case of most if not all of his paintings which feature blacks

I don't see this at all. As I mentioned before, the patterns of light and shadow on all seven faces are consistent with a light source from the left and the position of the faces in relation to the observer.

For the group on the left, light falls on part of the right side of their faces while most of the left side of their faces is in the shadow. One might as well point out that light falls only on the neck, ear and eyebrow of the man at the bottom left ...

As to contrasts ... well, the painter has provided some extra contrast. We have obviously no trouble seeing and identifying all four faces. Also, I don't know to what extent the painting has darkened and not been restored to what the contrasts and shades of colour looked like originally.

gmag · Mar 8, 2021

RemysMimi said:
This seems to be the case for most, if not all his paintings featuring black

Well, he must have painted them very dark, without any light, because you can't see them! There are none in Madrid, in the Prado, except this one from the Three Wise Men. About 130 of his paintings are known, and only 1 head of a black man, that of this painting.

gmag · Mar 8, 2021

We are going to do something interesting, if we look at the head of the black man as we see it in the painting, with the white collar, and if we look at it without the collar, we will see two very similar heads, but with some differences.

The differences are the nuances that we can see if the white collar, which reflects a lot of light towards our eyes, is eliminated. Without that collar, the face has more nuances.
Of course, in a museum, with the special lights, and directed towards the painting, so that it passes through the layers of paint, the light reaches the white preparation of the fabric, and is reflected up to our eyes, showing us all the subtle colors of the paintings, and the various layers of paint, with their oils and varnishes or resins, which increase the transparency of the layers, and therefore the luminosity of the reflected light ...

In the original painting we would see a beautiful black man's head, with more accentuated lights and shadows ...

RemysMimi · Mar 8, 2021

gmag said:
Well, he must have painted them very dark, without any light, because you can't see them! There are none in Madrid, in the Prado, except this one from the Three Wise Men. About 130 of his paintings are known, and only 1 head of a black man, that of this painting.

Take a deep breath. There is another one. But if makes you feel better, with a magnifying glass I could see a hint of light on his nose. I stand corrected.

gmag · Mar 8, 2021

RemysMimi said:
Take a deep breath. There is another one. But if makes you feel better, with a magnifying glass I could see a hint of light on his nose. I stand corrected.

Where???

dick bird · Mar 8, 2021

Kathar1na said:
I know that the thread ought to come to a close but I just have to share this.

I like to download images of paintings from the Webgallery site because the colours are more true and the resolution is higher. I noticed that their description of the painting that @Rick of Rick and Peg posted identifies the person on the left in the red coat as Joseph and so do other websites, apparently. For me, there is no doubt that it is a medieval pilgrim and not Joseph. Not only hat, staff and scrip show this but also the long road behind him, leading to the town and out of it and up and through the hills. But look at his shoes! Leather on wood with straps. There is a copy of this painting, attributed to Memling, where the details of the shoes are better to see. One can also see that he has just arrived, look at the left foot.

And sorry for the side track but we on the forum are after all always interested in pilgrim gear.

View attachment 94664

I think I have seen clogs like that in Asturias.

C clearly · Mar 8, 2021

dick bird said:
I think I have seen clogs like that in Asturias.

You can see some photos of wooden shoes in use, on posts #27 and 28 on this thread.

dick bird · Mar 8, 2021

C clearly said:
You can see some photos of wooden shoes in use, on posts #27 and 28 on this thread.

Thanks. Those are the ones. Cantabria, not Asturias.

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Entertainment... How to look at a painting of ... Velazquez again.

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