Velázquez, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y – La fragua de Vulcano Part 3 Prado Museum

Description of Diego Velázquez’s painting The Forge of Vulcan

The painting was painted in 1630.

The entire subject, taken from the mythology of ancient Greece, is interpreted by the painter in a very original way, becoming considerably more complex. In the painting, Velázquez depicts the moment when Apollo tells Vulcan, god of fire, that the goddess Venus is unfaithful to him.

No earthiness is felt in the composition created, but one can sense that the author is being ironic. Despite the fact that Apollo shines around him, his image is so prosaic. Vulcan and those who help him are also devoid of divinity. They are ordinary people. You get the full feeling that we got into the forge of the then Spanish blacksmith, who was caught at his usual occupation.

All the domestic concreteness of the setting is also reinforced. The myth told of a cave and a fire-breathing volcano. Velázquez, on the other hand, depicts an ordinary forge. Just beautifully depicted the hearth, which is located in the very depths of the forge. The room is lit by flames of pink-orange-yellow. The viewer can see even the tiniest sparks hanging in the air.

The overall tone of the canvas is a light brown tone, into which yellow shades are masterfully introduced, as well as brown and red. With the greatest force they sound in the cloak of the sun god, in the colorful sheet of iron, which is red-hot and hot flame. The painter also introduces shades of grayish-blue. It is, above all, the sky, Apollo’s wreath.

Velázquez masterfully developed for all the characters characteristic gestures, special poses and certain facial expressions. The viewer sees the hammers, frozen in different positions. This suggests that the work was suddenly interrupted.

One gets the feeling that this painting is not based on a mythological subject, but on a domestic theme. Such a new reading of an ancient subject was quite bold and new in the time of the painter.