To a wider audience, Juan de Pareja is better known for a portrait Diego Velázquez did of him, not as a painter. The Metropolitan Museum in New York is now changing that: the exhibition Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic Painter brings together some 40 paintings, sculptures and decorative arts that examine in greater detail the life and work of this extraordinary painter. At the same time, Pareja, who worked as a slave in Velázquez's workshop, serves as an example of the part enslaved people played in the art and culture of Spain's Golden Age. The exhibition, which is both worth seeing and enlightening, runs from April 3 to July 16.
Little is known about the life of Juan de Pareja, and many legends surround his existence. It is documented that he was born into slavery and worked for Velázquez until he freed him in 1650. De Pareja was about 40 years old at this time and a trained painter. Until his death in 1670, de Pareja worked in Madrid, and his best-known work is probably The Calling of St. Matthew the Evangelist of 1661, which is in the Museo del Prado.
