Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), After - Les Ivrognes

Oil on canvas executed as Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), directly inspired by a fragment of his famous composition The Triumph of Bacchus, popularly known as The Drunks, one of the maestro from Seville's most emblematic works.

The painting reproduces the group of characters placed at one end of the original composition, concentrating on three popular figures gathered around wine. By isolating this set from the full scene, the painter turns the fragment into an autonomous composition of great expressive force, giving full protagonism to the faces, the gestures and the interaction among the characters.

The work is executed with high pictorial quality, especially noteworthy is the treatment of the physiognomies and the capacity to reproduce the intense naturalism of Velázquez's model. The wide-brimmed hat character, whose broad smile is one of the most recognizable elements of the original composition, acts as the main visual focus. The other two figures also present strongly characterized faces, endowing the group with notable expressiveness and humanity.

The treatment of light and chiaroscuro is particularly striking. The lighting falls on the faces and hands, making them emerge from the dark areas of the clothing and generating a powerful contrast. The palette, deliberately sober, is built mainly from blacks, earths, ochres and toasted tones, enriched by the flesh tones and the bright white of the vessel in the foreground.

The original work by Diego Velázquez, The Triumph of Bacchus or The Drunks, was painted between 1628 and 1629 and is currently housed in the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid. In it, Velázquez approached a mythological subject from a deeply naturalistic perspective, combining the presence of the god Bacchus with popular characters represented with extraordinary individuality and realism.

The present painting takes directly as reference a part of that famous composition, constituting a later reinterpretation according to Velázquez's model. The use of the phrase “according to Diego Velázquez” precisely indicates its dependence on a known composition by the master, without implying a direct attribution to the artist or his workshop.

Beyond its relation to the original model, it is a work of notable quality of execution, especially appreciable in the construction of the faces, the flesh tones, the expressions and the luminous contrasts. The painter shows particular attention to the psychological character of the figures and to the plastic values of Spanish Baroque painting.

An attractive Velázquez-inspired work, of great presence and decorative strength, based on one of the most recognizable figurative ensembles in the history of Spanish painting.

Author: according to Diego Velázquez (1599-1660).
Subject: fragment of The Triumph of Bacchus (The Drunks).
Technique: oil on canvas.
Genre: figurative painting / interpretation of an old master.

The work is framed. The frame is offered as a gift to the buyer and is not an integral part of the work, so any potential defect in it will not be grounds for claim.

It is recommended to carefully observe the photographs, which form an integral part of the description, to assess the condition of the work.

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