An Old Woman Cooking Eggs
About this artwork
Velázquez was eighteen or nineteen when he painted this remarkable picture. It clearly demonstrates his flair for painting people and everyday objects directly from life. His fascination with contrasting materials and textures and the play of light and shadow on opaque and reflective surfaces resulted in brilliant passages of painting, especially the eggs cooking in hot oil and the varied domestic utensils. At the start of his career Velázquez painted a number of these kitchen or tavern scenes, called 'bodegones' in Spanish.
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title:An Old Woman Cooking Eggs
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accession number:NG 2180
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artist:
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materials:Oil on canvas
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date created:1618
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measurements:100.50 x 119.50 cm (framed: 128.50 x 148.00 x 9.50 cm)
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credit line:Purchased with the aid of the Art Fund and a Treasury Grant 1955
Diego Velazquez
Diego Velazquez
Velázquez became the leading Spanish artist of the seventeenth century. His outstanding skills were evident in his early works in Seville, and his talent for portraiture soon brought him to the attention of the court in Madrid. He moved there on his appointment as painter to King Philip IV in…