Editing Diego Velázquez (section)

====Portraiture====
[[File:Diego Velázquez - Portrait of a Lady - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|''Lady from court'', {{circa|1635}}]]
[[File:Pablo de Valladolid, por Diego Velázquez.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Portrait of Pablo de Valladolid]]'', 1635, a court fool of [[Philip IV of Spain|Philip IV]]]]
Besides the many portraits of Philip by Velázquez—thirty-four by one count<ref>Ortega y Gasset 1953, p. 45.</ref>—he painted portraits of other members of the royal family: Philip's first wife, [[Elisabeth of Bourbon]], and her children, especially her eldest son, Don [[Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias|Baltasar Carlos]], whom Velázquez first depicted at about two years of age. Cavaliers, soldiers, churchmen, and the poet [[Francisco de Quevedo]] (now at [[Apsley House]]), sat for Velázquez.

Velázquez also painted several buffoons and dwarfs in Philip's court, whom he depicted sympathetically and with respect for their individuality, as in ''[[The Jester Don Diego de Acedo]]'' (1644), whose intelligent face and huge folio with ink-bottle and pen by his side show him to be a wise and well-educated man.<ref>Carr et al. 2006, p. 42.</ref> ''Pablo de Valladolid'' (1635), a buffoon evidently acting a part, and ''The Buffoon of Coria'' (1639) belong to this middle period.

As court painter, Velázquez had fewer commissions for religious works than any of his contemporaries.<ref name="Carr_36"/> ''[[Christ Crucified (Velázquez)|Christ Crucified]]'' (1632), painted for the Convent of San Plácido in Madrid, depicts Christ immediately after death. The Savior's head hangs on his breast and a mass of dark tangled hair conceals part of the face, visually reinforcing the idea of death.<ref name="Carr_36">Carr et al. 2006, p. 36.</ref> The figure is presented alone before a dark background.

Velázquez's son-in-law [[Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo]] had succeeded him as usher in 1634,<ref>Asturias and Bardi 1969, p. 84.</ref> and Mazo himself had received a steady promotion in the royal household. Mazo received a pension of 500 [[Ducado|ducats]] in 1640, increased to 700 in 1648, for portraits painted and to be painted, and was appointed inspector of works in the palace in 1647.

Philip now entrusted Velázquez with the mission of procuring paintings and sculpture for the royal collection. Rich in pictures, Spain was weak in statuary, and Velázquez was commissioned once again to proceed to Italy to make purchases.<ref>Harris 1982,  pp. 24–25.</ref>