Baroque · 1599–1660 · Spanish

Diego Velázquez

Velázquez worked from a restrained palette of earth colors, lead white, vermilion and blacks, and was admired for his silvery greys. Manet, who studied him in Madrid, called him the painter of painters.

Across 5 works, the colors are mostly brown (53%), black (27%) and gray (10%). On average the canvases are mid-toned, muted and warm. Signature colors, used far more here than across the collection: very dark crimson, dark crimson, dark sienna, very dark sienna and warm black.

Color print

The swatches covering most of these canvases, averaged over every work, dark to light.

• MG 219 bistre 8.9% of canvas
• MG 177 dark taupe 8.8% of canvas
• MG 222 charcoal 7.2% of canvas
• MG 223 soot 7.1% of canvas
• MG 220 warm black 5.5% of canvas
• MG 145 dark sienna 4.9% of canvas
• MG 176 taupe 4.3% of canvas
• MG 146 very dark sienna 3.6% of canvas
• MG 218 graphite 3.4% of canvas
• MG 175 stone 3.4% of canvas
• MG 224 black 2.8% of canvas
• MG 184 umber 2.6% of canvas
• MG 174 warm grey 2.5% of canvas
• MG 185 dark golden umber 2.3% of canvas
• MG 173 putty 2.3% of canvas
• MG 186 dark umber 2.2% of canvas

Measurements

Lightness

0.40

Contrast

0.49

Vividness

0.029

Warmth

+0.91

Complexity

161 cells

Hue range

0.42

Focus

0.10

Works

• The Surrender of Brea, 1635
• Rokeby Venus, 1644
• Las Hilanderas, 17th century
• Portrait of Innocent X, 17th century
• Las Meninas, 1656