Juan de Pareja

This 1650 portrait by Velazquez was a painting of his enslaved assisstant, Juan de Pareja. Velazquez made it while he was in Rome. This shows his realist style and the painting allows us to connect to the life of Pareja. It shows how Velazquez's style allowed us to have sympathy and understand the life journey as someone as lowly as a slave. It was so influential that Parjea was freed in 1654 and was allowed to work in private practice. However, it is also known that Pareja was painting for the Pope during this period. So perhaps the portrait of Pareja was based on Velazquez's own self-interest to earn gifts from the Pope and not out of help for a slave. Thus, the meaning of this painting is still contested.