ZACARIAS GONZÁLEZ VELÁZQUEZ (Madrid, 1763 - 1863) "Our Lady Giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic...
ZACARIAS GONZÁLEZ VELÁZQUEZ (Madrid, 1763 - 1863) "Our Lady Giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic de Guzmán". Oil on canvas. RELATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: NÚÑEZ, B. Zacarías González Velázquez (1763-1834). Madrid: Fundación Arte Hispánico, 2000. Size: 50 x 36 cm; 71 x 57 cm (frame).
ZACARIAS GONZÁLEZ VELÁZQUEZ (Madrid, 1763 - 1863)
"Our Lady Giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic de Guzmán".
Oil on canvas.
RELATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
NÚÑEZ, B. Zacarías González Velázquez (1763-1834). Madrid: Fundación Arte Hispánico, 2000.
Size: 50 x 36 cm; 71 x 57 cm (frame).
This canvas represents one of the most outstanding episodes of the legend of Saint Domingo de Guzmán, the apparition of the Virgin of the Rosary to the saint. It is an unpublished work that was studied by the prestigious Caylus gallery. With regard to the subject matter, it is worth mentioning that tradition, which began in the 15th century, tells that the Mother of God herself taught Saint Dominic to pray the rosary in 1208, telling him to propagate this devotion and use it as a powerful weapon against the enemies of the faith. Appearing in the chapel where the saint was praying, holding a rosary in his hand, he taught him to recite it, promising that many sinners would be converted and obtain abundant graces. St. Dominic went out of there full of zeal, with the rosary in his hand. He did indeed preach it, and with great success, bringing many Albigensians back to the Catholic faith. The scene depicts the presence of a small dog carrying a torch in its jaws. This iconography alludes to the dream of Saint Dominic's mother, before he was born. After dreaming of a dog carrying a torch coming out of her womb, the mother made a pilgrimage to the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos to find out the meaning of her dream. There it was revealed to her that a child would be born, whom she named Domingo, in honour of the monastery.
Son, brother, brother-in-law and father of painters, Zacarías González Velázquez developed a career closely linked to the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, of which he became director general in 1828. The influence of his family's artists and that of the Academy, together with his courtly career, were the two key factors in the development of his life and work. Zacarías joined the San Fernando Academy in 1777, under the guidance of his father. That year he began his training and the following year he was awarded first prize in the second class of painting. His successful studies were completed in 1782, and from then on he accepted a series of private commissions, including the series of paintings of the life of Saint Francis executed in 1787 for the church of San Francisco el Grande in Madrid. The eighteen-eighties were a period of intense work for Zacarías González Velázquez, culminating in his appointment as an academician of San Fernando in 1790. He was subsequently appointed assistant professor, a post he held from 1793 to 1807. During these full years he achieved the post of Honorary Chamber Painter in 1801, and in the following year he was made a Pinto de Cámara Numerario. By then he had already executed his most important works in fresco, including the Chapel of San Isidro in Madrid (1789) and the Royal Oratory of the Caballero de Gracia in the same city (1792). In the early years of the 19th century he executed the frescoes of the Casa del Labrador in the Escorial and the King's Room in the Palace of Aranjuez. He also executed important religious commissions, as well as portraits of his family and himself, the royal family and some of the most distinguished gentlemen of the time. In 1807 he was appointed lieutenant director of painting at San Fernando, although his career at the Academy was paralysed by the French invasion and the War of Independence. During this period Zacarías González Velázquez remained in Madrid, joining the Pintores de Cámara of Joseph I, although after the return of Ferdinand VII he had no problems rejoining the service of the monarch. Thanks to the protection of the Infante Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, his career continued to rise.
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ZACARIAS GONZÁLEZ VELÁZQUEZ (Madrid, 1763 - 1863) "Our Lady Giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic de Guzmán". Oil on canvas. RELATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: NÚÑEZ, B. Zacarías González Velázquez (1763-1834). Madrid: Fundación Arte Hispánico, 2000. Size: 50 x 36 cm; 71 x 57 cm (frame).
ZACARIAS GONZÁLEZ VELÁZQUEZ (Madrid, 1763 - 1863)
"Our Lady Giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic de Guzmán".
Oil on canvas.
RELATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
NÚÑEZ, B. Zacarías González Velázquez (1763-1834). Madrid: Fundación Arte Hispánico, 2000.
Size: 50 x 36 cm; 71 x 57 cm (frame).
This canvas represents one of the most outstanding episodes of the legend of Saint Domingo de Guzmán, the apparition of the Virgin of the Rosary to the saint. It is an unpublished work that was studied by the prestigious Caylus gallery. With regard to the subject matter, it is worth mentioning that tradition, which began in the 15th century, tells that the Mother of God herself taught Saint Dominic to pray the rosary in 1208, telling him to propagate this devotion and use it as a powerful weapon against the enemies of the faith. Appearing in the chapel where the saint was praying, holding a rosary in his hand, he taught him to recite it, promising that many sinners would be converted and obtain abundant graces. St. Dominic went out of there full of zeal, with the rosary in his hand. He did indeed preach it, and with great success, bringing many Albigensians back to the Catholic faith. The scene depicts the presence of a small dog carrying a torch in its jaws. This iconography alludes to the dream of Saint Dominic's mother, before he was born. After dreaming of a dog carrying a torch coming out of her womb, the mother made a pilgrimage to the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos to find out the meaning of her dream. There it was revealed to her that a child would be born, whom she named Domingo, in honour of the monastery.
Son, brother, brother-in-law and father of painters, Zacarías González Velázquez developed a career closely linked to the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, of which he became director general in 1828. The influence of his family's artists and that of the Academy, together with his courtly career, were the two key factors in the development of his life and work. Zacarías joined the San Fernando Academy in 1777, under the guidance of his father. That year he began his training and the following year he was awarded first prize in the second class of painting. His successful studies were completed in 1782, and from then on he accepted a series of private commissions, including the series of paintings of the life of Saint Francis executed in 1787 for the church of San Francisco el Grande in Madrid. The eighteen-eighties were a period of intense work for Zacarías González Velázquez, culminating in his appointment as an academician of San Fernando in 1790. He was subsequently appointed assistant professor, a post he held from 1793 to 1807. During these full years he achieved the post of Honorary Chamber Painter in 1801, and in the following year he was made a Pinto de Cámara Numerario. By then he had already executed his most important works in fresco, including the Chapel of San Isidro in Madrid (1789) and the Royal Oratory of the Caballero de Gracia in the same city (1792). In the early years of the 19th century he executed the frescoes of the Casa del Labrador in the Escorial and the King's Room in the Palace of Aranjuez. He also executed important religious commissions, as well as portraits of his family and himself, the royal family and some of the most distinguished gentlemen of the time. In 1807 he was appointed lieutenant director of painting at San Fernando, although his career at the Academy was paralysed by the French invasion and the War of Independence. During this period Zacarías González Velázquez remained in Madrid, joining the Pintores de Cámara of Joseph I, although after the return of Ferdinand VII he had no problems rejoining the service of the monarch. Thanks to the protection of the Infante Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, his career continued to rise.
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