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Velazquez Diego Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Velazquez Diego Quizzes, Trivia

Diego Velazquez Trivia

Diego Velazquez Trivia Quizzes

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A member of the royal court of Spain, Diego Velazquez was known for painting portraits, as well as historical scenes. What do you know about his work?
3 Diego Velazquez quizzes and 35 Diego Velazquez trivia questions.
1.
10 Paintings Diego Velazquez
  10 Paintings: Diego Velazquez   top quiz  
Photo Quiz
 10 Qns
A master of the Spanish Golden Age, Diego Velazquez was a member of the court of Philip IV who supported the arts in great measure. Here are ten of his paintings.
Average, 10 Qns, trident, Jun 06 22
Average
trident editor
Jun 06 22
249 plays
2.
  Paintings of Velasquez   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
Velasquez was arguably the greatest painter of Spain's "Golden Age". This quiz is about some of his greatest and most fascinating paintings. Enjoy!
Average, 15 Qns, jouen58, Jan 14 16
Average
jouen58
529 plays
3.
  Las Meninas   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
It has been called the "theology of painting" and has been said to incarnate the "philosophy of art." Enjoy this quiz on one of the greatest masterpieces ever painted!
Average, 10 Qns, rkirzner, Nov 05 07
Average
rkirzner
549 plays

Diego Velazquez Trivia Questions
1. One of Velasquez's most fascinating pieces is a religious painting from the same year as "Woman Cooking Eggs"(and, in some ways, similar to it) which depicts this Biblical scene of sibling rivalry.

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

Most depictions of this scene show Martha interrupting the conversation between Jesus and her sister to complain that Mary is not helping her with the work. This painting depicts Martha in the kitchen just before this confrontation; Jesus, Mary, and a third, unidentified female figure are seen in what appears to be a mirror over Martha's shoulder; she is looking directly at them in the other room (and at us, since we are where they would be in reality). The simmering hurt and resentment on her face are palpable. An older woman (Her mother or an older servant) seems to be advising her (To speak up for herself? Not to be so upset?). It is an endlessly fascinating painting.

2. The primary character in the painting is clearly the girl in the center. What is her name?

From Quiz Las Meninas

Answer: the Infanta Margarita

Even though the Infanta Margarita is surrounded by figures who are larger than she, the spectator's eyes are drawn to her. Maribarbola is the name of the dwarf on the right side of the painting, and the other two choices are made-up.

3. Velasquez created two paintings of this Spanish nobleman, who was his benefactor.

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: Duke-Count de Olivares

Velasquez painted a full-figure and an equestrian portrait of de Olivares (Gaspar de Guzman), who was also the mentor and advisor to Philip IV from 1621-1643. Olivares was one of the most influential men in Europe until his fall from favor in 1643; broken in health and spirit, he was "allowed to retire" by King Philip.

4. Who is shown painting a picture on the left side of the canvas?

From Quiz Las Meninas

Answer: Diego Velazquez, himself

It is a self-portrait. In this painting, he essentially painted himself into the Royal Family. Juan de Pareja was Velazquez's servant, Phillip IV the King by whom he was employed, and Goya a Spanish painter very influenced by Velazquez.

5. Velasquez also painted this ill-starred English monarch, who was also painted by Van Dyke.

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: Charles I

The elegant Stuart monarch in his cavalier's dress was a favorite subject of painters of this period. Sadly, his reign came to a tragic end with his beheading in 1649 (by tragic coincidence, his grandmother had been the similarly ill-fated Mary, Queen of Scots).

6. All of this talk about Las Meninas is fascinating, but what does the title actually mean?

From Quiz Las Meninas

Answer: The Maids of Honor

Interesting that the painting is named after the two girls who are tending to the Infanta Margarita. It makes the spectator continue to ponder what the painting is all about.

7. The spectator's eye really is never drawn to the entire upper section of the painting. What are hanging on the wall above the scene?

From Quiz Las Meninas

Answer: Paintings by Velazquez's son

Had you even noticed that there is an upper part of the painting? Interesting that there is a whole section in which nothing is "happening..."

8. Another great painting, almost as celebrated as "Las Meninas", is the "Surrender of Breda". How does this painting differ from similar "surrender" paintings of the era?

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: The defeated man is shown with dignity, standing, and with his men

Most paintings depicting historic surrenders show the vanquished man as a debased figure, on his knees before the victor, and seemingly abandoned by his troops. Not so in this painting, in which the defeated man is shown bowing humbly, but on his feet, surrounded by his proud army. The victorious general is depicted as neither haughty nor condescending, but as genuinely gracious and sympathetic.

9. Also on your trip to the Prado, you may notice some people who are 'in-the-know' and who are standing with their backs to the painting, looking at it through a mirror. What are they looking at?

From Quiz Las Meninas

Answer: The Infanta Margarita's skirt

When you stand far back enough and look at the "Las Meninas" through a mirror, the Infanta's skirt seems to come out of the canvas. It is just one part of the magic of the painting!

10. In Velasquez's "The Feast of Bacchus", he achieves a distinctly comic effect by pairing the God of wine with these rather incongrous companions.

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: Spanish peasants

Bacchus, wearing his traditional garb of loincloth and a crown of vine leaves, sits next to a group of mugging (and clearly tipsy) Spanish peasants wearing the traditional garb of the period and each enjoying a glass of wine. A lone satyr reclines beside Bacchus to the left. The painting is also known as "The Topers"; its incongruity is quite amusing. Velasquez achieved a similar effect in his painting "The Forge of Vulcan", in which the god, wearing a traditional toga and crown of laurel, gives instructions to a group of archetypical Spanish workmen.

11. The red cross on Velazquez's clothing represents what organization?

From Quiz Las Meninas

Answer: The Order of Santiago

This was painted onto Velazquez's self portrait after his death. Legend says that it was painted by Juan de Pareja, his faithful servant and student. I hope that you have learned from this quiz... but it only explores a tiny fraction of the majesty of the painting. Take some time to look at the painting and let it inspire you.

12. Velasquez's famous painting of "Venus at the Mirror", in the National Gallery in London, was seriously damaged in 1914, though it has been satisfactorily repaired. In what rather unusual way did the damage occur?

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: It was slashed by a suffragette who found it offensive.

"Venus at the Mirror" (alternatively known as "The Rokeby Venus") shows the nude goddess reclining with her back to us; Cupid holds up a mirror in which she -and we- gaze at her face. This painting apparently offended the sensibilities of one particularly militant British suffragette, who went at it with a razor, inflicting serious damage but, thankfully, not destroying what is arguably Velasquez's most beautiful painting of a woman.

13. Velasquez's highly unusual painting of Mars, the god of war, depicts him in this atypical attitude.

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: Humiliated

Mars has just been discovered "in flagrante" with Venus by the other gods of Olympus. He cuts a comic figure; nude except for a blanket evidently hastily wrapped around his loins, sulking on the edge of the bed wearing his helmet, which fails to lend him any dignity.

14. One of Velasquez's greatest religious paintings depicts this apostle and evangelist depicted in exile on the island of Patmos, where he wrote the "Book of Revelation".

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: John

John here resembles nothing so much as a Spanish Dominican friar. He meditates on a distant vision of Mary and Jesus.

15. What is notable about Velasquez's beautiful "Lady With a Fan"?

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: Its subject is an anonymous woman of no royal title

This is one of Velasquez's rare paintings of a woman who is neither a royal family member, nor a religious or mythological figure. It is definitely not a painting of his wife; however evidence exists indicating that it may well have been his daughter, an adult woman at the time of the painting.

16. For the Torre de la Parada, Velasquez painted these two (rarely depicted) ancient Greek figures.

From Quiz Paintings of Velasquez

Answer: Menippus and Aesop

These were probably painted as a pair; such portraits of ancient philosophers were a common subject. Ribera and Rubens had done similar paintings, Ribera of Archimedes (or Democritus), Rubens of Democritus and Heraclitus.

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