Mariana: Velázquez’s Portrait of a Queen from the Museo Nacional del Prado
Exhibition
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (Spanish, 1599–1660), Queen Mariana of Austria, 1652–1653, oil on canvas, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, (P001191), © Photographic Archive Museo Nacional del Prado
Diego Velázquez’s enigmatic painting of Queen Mariana of Austria (1652–1653) is the centerpiece of this exhibition at the Norton Simon Museum.
The exhibition seeks to demonstrate how the dynamic interrelationship between art and life not only inspired Velázquez’s image of the teenage monarch but also shaped her worldview as she fashioned her new political role. Exhibited on the West Coast for the first time, Velázquez’s monumental portrait will be installed alongside an international group of artists whose works were collected by the Habsburg court.
Paintings by Nicolas Poussin, Guido Reni and Peter Paul Rubens, all highlights of the Norton Simon Museum’s collections, evoke Mariana’s quotidian access to remarkable works of art, and they invite comparisons between Velázquez and artists he knew and admired.
This exhibition is organized as part of the Norton Simon Museum’s Loan Exchange Program with the Spanish national art museum.