Portrait of the court dwarf known as el Primo, after Velázquez

Portrait of the court dwarf known as el Primo, after Velázquez

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Velázquez’s painted portraits of court jesters convey profound insight to their personalities. In 1644 the entertainer known as El Primo accompanied King Philip IV to Aragon, where he sat for Velázquez. In his etching based on that work, Goya accentuates the intensity of the sitter's gaze; the dark background created by a dense network of lines serves to project his figure toward the viewer. Here, El Primo appears altogether more assertive, even confrontational—subtle differences intentionally introduced by Goya that make his interpretation distinct.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portrait of the court dwarf known as el Primo, after VelázquezPortrait of the court dwarf known as el Primo, after VelázquezPortrait of the court dwarf known as el Primo, after VelázquezPortrait of the court dwarf known as el Primo, after VelázquezPortrait of the court dwarf known as el Primo, after Velázquez

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.