Diega Velázqueza malarstwo religijne na dworze Filipa IV
Diego Velázquez’s religious paintings at the court of Philip IV

Summary/Abstract: The library of Diego Velázquez contained a negligible number of religious books. Hence, some scholars, pointing to the small number of devotional paintings by the court painter to King Philip IV, considered him a religious sceptic, which, however, would have been inconceivable with his role in the Spanish culture of the period. Certainly, Velázquez’s religiosity was far from the typical attitude represented by most of his contemporary painters. He mainly explored religious themes in his youth, when he was working in Seville for a convent clientele; later, back in Madrid, and free from the constraints and pressures of other Spanish artists dependent on the tastes of their ecclesiastical clients, he returned to religious motifs relatively rarely, each time, as in the case of the Dead Christ on the Cross, the Coronation of the Madonna, or Saints Anthony and Paul, at the specific request of the King or the queen. Most of the religious works came from the artist’s brush during his service at the royal court after his return from his first trip to Italy. Their fundamental importance for the artistic development of King Philip IV’s court painter has always been greatly emphasised. What has not been noted, however, is that the Italian expedition gave Velázquez the opportunity to become thoroughly acquainted with the ubiquitous religious paintings of the highest order there, as practised by the most eminent Italian painters and artists working for popes, kings and princes. It would seem, therefore, that the painter became enthralled with it anew, and, after returning to Spain for another decade, he would return to it frequently, realising his phenomenal compositions of a religious nature.

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