Problems in Velázquez’s Portraiture
Lecture
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660), Portrait of a Gentleman, attributed to Velázquez by Dr. Cherry and subsequently sold at Bonhams on 7th December 2011 (Photo by Bonhams Catalogue)
In this year’s Nigel Glendinning annual lecture sponsored by our sister organization ARTES, Peter Cherry will discuss new research on Velázquez’s portraits.
Dr. Cherry’s lecture will explore various issues related to Diego Velázquez’s portraiture, arising during the preparation of a book-length study on the subject. Specific portraits will illustrate challenges in typology and chronology, naming and interpretation, and controversies over attributions and the pressure to expand the Velázquez canon. The discussion will also address methodological questions that have both aided and complicated the framing of these problems.
Dr. Peter Cherry was a lecturer in the History of Art at Trinity College Dublin until 2024. He has had a long and internationally recognized career teaching and publishing on Hispanic art and archives. His research focuses on seventeenth-century Spanish painting, especially still-life and genre painting, and artists working in Seville, including Velázquez and Murillo. Recently, he has turned his attention to Velázquez’s portraiture for a book in the Renaissance Lives series by Reaktion. He now lives in Madrid.
The lecture will take place on May 29 at 6 pm (BST) at the Instituto Cervantes, 15-19 Devereux Ct, London, WC2R 3JJ. The event will also be live-streamed.