Velàzquez "Infanta Margarita"
Velàzquez "Infanta Margarita"
Share
Limited Edition: 18
Exhibition: Artisans & Kings: Selected Treasures from the Louvre
Material: Printed vinyl
Dimensions: 30" x 89" (76cm x 226cm)
Hanging Hardware Included
Summary
Not to be outdone by Titian's mastery is a portrait of the Infanta Margarita painted by Diego Velazquez (1599-1660) in 1654. The painting originally hung in the bath chamber of Anne of Austria, Louis XIV's mother, in the Louvre Palace. Painted as a reminder of her young Spanish niece and her far-away family, the work now graces 22 banners.
Description
The Louvre museum in Paris is one of the word’s most visited museums, attracting some 1.2 million American visitors alone each year – more than many American museums draw. So, the Louvre has now formed partnerships with several American museums to broaden exposure to its world-class collections on this side of the Atlantic. One of the museums to benefit from this is the Denver Art Museum which recently hosted its first such show, Artisans & Kings: Selected Treasures from the Louvre.
Banners from the exhibition feature a variety of show highlights, including a 1654 portrait of the young princess Infanta Margarita by Diego Velàzquez. As the museum describes, “Louis XIV’s mother, Anne of Austria, commissioned this painting of her little niece, a Spanish princess. In a traditional portrait, a woman from the Spanish court would stand with her hand on the back of a chair. But the Infanta Margarita, only three years old at the time, could only reach the seat. Anne of Austria kept this painting, along with almost 20 other portraits of her far-off family, in a private space in the Palace of the Louvre: her bathing chamber.”
Above and below the image on the banner are rich gold-colored bands that pick up the gold detailing of the young princess’s jeweled collar. Text in black above the image reads “Artisans & Kings/Selected Treasures from The Louvre”; the museum’s name and exhibition dates are printed below the image “Denver Art Museum/October 6 – January 6”. Both sides of the banner are identical.
Provenance
These banners were displayed around Denver, Colorado from October 6, 2007 through January 6, 2008 to promote the exhibition Artisans & Kings: Selected Treasures from the Louvre at the Denver Art Museum. The exhibition featured works from the collection of The Louvre museum in Paris that were also seen at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art.