On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01171
- Author
- Velázquez, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y (Spanish)
- Title
- Vulcan's Forge
- Chronology
- Ca. 1630
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 223 cm x 290 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCIONREAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
Wearing a laurel crown and orange
tunic, the god Apollo enters
Vulcan's forge to warn him that his
wife, Venus, goddess of beauty, is
having an adulterous affair with
Mars, god of war.
Apollo, god of poetry and music and
knower of the truth, represents the
superiority of Art over Craft,
which is embodied by Vulcan, the
Roman god of fire and protector of
blacksmiths. This work was totally
conceived by Velasquez and wasn't
commissioned by anyone. It
constitutes praise of artists by
raising painting to the level of
poetry and music and distancing it
from the work of craftsmen.
This work was made in Rome during
Velasquez's first visit to Italy.
It is outstanding for its
references to Greco-Roman statuary
—in the treatment of the nudes— and
to the Italian classicist Baroque.
The composition is a broadly
modified interpretation of an
engraving by Antonio
Tempesta.
This canvas was acquired by Felipe
IV in 1634 and is listed in the
1701 inventory of the Buen Retiro
Palace, and in the 1772 and 1794
inventories of Madrid's Royal
Palace. It entered the Prado Museum
in 1819.
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