Sebastian de Morra

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Diego Velázquez: dwarf sitting on the floor , probably Don Sebastián de Morra (1645); Oil on canvas, 106.5 × 81.5 cm; Prado , Madrid

Don Sebastián de Morra (17th century, exact dates of life unknown) was a court dwarf and belonged to the court entourage of King Philip IV of Spain. He was portrayed by the court painter Diego Velázquez and is commonly identified with his famous painting Dwarf Sitting on the Floor in the Prado .

The portrait of Velázquez

Diego Velázquez: Court dwarf (probably Seb. De Morra), detail from Prince Baltasar Carlos with the Conde-Ducque de Olivares in the riding school , 1636 (collection of the Duke of Westminster, London )

A number of court jesters and dwarfs stayed at the court of Philip IV ; It is reported that the ruler, who tended to melancholy, could neither eat nor drink without these jokers , although not all court dwarves were also fools. Velázquez has portrayed several of them, and although he especially painted the fools partly in disguise, in a typical role or during a typical occupation (e.g. he portrayed the dwarf Francisco Lescano with a card game in his hands), his dwarf portraits show in the In contrast to the grotesque figures Callots ( Varie Figure Gobbi , Florence 1616), who later became famous as Callotti , “no caricature-like features and no overemphasis on burlesque”.

There are two versions of the painting discussed here: one in the Prado, and a second in a private collection, which may have been made with the participation of a workshop and which differs from the Prado version primarily in the details of a jug and a window on the right edge of the picture. A clear identification of the sitter is not possible, according to the inventories of the Marquis of Carpio, in whose possession the second version was earlier, it is instead another court dwarf known from the files: Diego de Acedo, called El Primo , who also by Velázquez, which is traditionally identified with another well-known painting showing a dwarf with books (c. 1644, Prado, Madrid; see below) - this identification is also doubtful and dates from the 19th century . The court dwarf depicted here also appears in Velázquez's painting Prince Baltasar Carlos with Conde Ducque de Olivares in the riding school from 1636 (collection of the Duke of Westminster, London ).

What is striking about the portrait is the great immediacy and directness of the depiction. The body of the little man takes up a large part of the canvas, which contributes to an impression of a quasi “monumental appearance”; However, the original dimensions of the picture in the Prado were originally different; according to López-Rey, it was later “considerably cropped”, especially on the right edge. Background and space remain completely undefined in the prado version. The focus of attention is the serious, alert, intense, but also somewhat gloomy look with which he looks at the viewer very suddenly. The head is tilted slightly to one side. The short stature of the person depicted in this portrait corresponds medically to achondroplasia , with a more or less normally proportioned upper body, but with short and partially deformed extremities. His sitting posture with his short stretched out legs and the soles of his feet that are visible from below is somewhat reminiscent of a doll or marionette . His hands are fists on his lap. This detail together with the intense gaze give the portrait a certain "irritable" or slightly aggressive note - at least a certain tense dynamic. The 'misshapen' of the dwarf is concealed discreetly and skilfully at the same time through this special sitting posture, through which the length and shape of the legs cannot be clearly recognized. The bright red, gold-trimmed cloak over a green skirt gives the figure a strikingly colorful note, which is atypical for the normal Spanish court costume , and which stands out clearly in other contemporary Spanish portraits compared to the staff, who are often dressed in black or at least dark ( also in the above-mentioned portrait of Prince Baltasar Carlos ... in the riding school (1636) the court dwarf wears red). The coloring, especially the red, contributes to the intense overall impression. As with all of Velázquez's portraits, this picture, together with his portrait of the court dwarf Diego de Acedo, called El Primo (c. 1644, Prado, Madrid), "shows off the sharpness of his characterization to the full".

  • Diego Velázquez: dwarf holding a book on his knees , (also known as: Don Diego de Acedo, called "el Primo" ) (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

reception

Francisco Goya: A dwarf (presumably Sebastián de Morra ). Etching after the painting by Velázquez (1778); 20.5 × 15.5 cm

An etching by Francisco de Goya dates from 1778 , which the artist made after the painting by his colleague in the Prado. The dwarf appears with Goya with a different facial expression: less serious and concentrated, instead with wide eyes that seem to stare into nothing. The slightly 'irritable' note mentioned by López-Rey, already present in the original, was emphasized by Goya. According to one interpreter, Goya's portrayal provides an “impression of the thinginess of being” and a deeper “examination of the human problem of deformed creatures” - an interpretation that, in view of the fine and clichéd character drawings on the original by Velázquez seems at least dubious. The changes made by Goya in the expression of the short man rather reflect “Goya's interest in the border areas of human existence”, and also bring some of his “leitmotifs”, such as “folly” and the “cryptic”, into focus.

In 1982, Salvador Dalí quoted the work of his famous colleague Velázquez in a series of pictures in different techniques. An oil painting with collage shows the court dwarf against the background of the Escorial , the royal residence, with fried eggs on his head, on his shoulders and on his hands, it is titled: Behind the window on the left hand side, where a spoon comes out, lies Velázquez dying . Apart from subtle surrealistic or other interpretations, it is conceivable that Dalí wanted to show the court dwarf as an object of humiliation, clowning and disrespect. However, it is only a personal interpretation of Dalí.

Whether the reinterpretations of Goya and Dalí do justice to the portrayed man and historical reality is difficult or impossible to determine because too little is known about Sebastián de Morra - if he is at all about him.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , Wildenstein Institute / Benedikt Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 1997: p. 134.
  2. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , Wildenstein Institute / Benedikt Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 1997: p. 134.
  3. ^ Carl Justi: Diego Velázquez and his century (1888), p. 567
  4. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , ..., Cologne 1997: pp. 128–139.
  5. ↑ Dirk Syndram & Ulrike Weinhold: "... and a body of Perl" - the collection of baroque pearl figures in the Green Vault ", Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Edition Minerva, Wolfratshausen 2007, pp. 18-21
  6. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , ..., Cologne 1997: p. 134.
  7. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , ..., Cologne 1997: p. 134, 263.
  8. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , ..., Cologne 1997: pp. 133-134, 136.
  9. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , ..., Cologne 1997: p. 116 and 138.
  10. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , ..., Cologne 1997: p. 134.
  11. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , ..., Cologne 1997: p. 134.
  12. ↑ José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , ..., Cologne 1997: p. 134.
  13. ↑ “Velázquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y”, in: Lexikon der Kunst, Vol. 12 (Tou-Zyp) , ed. v. Wolf Stadler u. a., Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1994, pp. 113-123, here: 120-121
  14. ↑ In reality, no clear identification is possible here either, see: José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , Wildenstein Institute / Benedikt Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 1997: pp. 133-134, 136.
  15. ↑ Legend (see Goya , 1980): Sacada y gravada del Quadro original de D. Diego Velazquez en que representa al vivo un / Enano del S. Phelipe IV. Por D. Francisco Goya Pintor. Existe en el R. Palacio de Madrid / Aňo de 1778 . (Etched from the original painting by D. Diego Velázquez, which depicts a dwarf of King Philip IV after the life. By D. Francisco Goya, painter. It is in the royal palace in Madrid. In 1778)
  16. ↑ Goya. The age of revolutions. 1789-1830 . Munich 1980; P. 250
  17. ↑ “Goya y Lucientes, Francisco José de”, in: Lexikon der Kunst, Vol. 5 (Gal-Herr) , ed. v. Wolf Stadler u. a., Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1994, pp. 182-187, here: p. 184.
  18. ↑ “Goya y Lucientes, Francisco José de”, in: Lexikon der Kunst, Vol. 5 (Gal-Herr) , ed. v. Wolf Stadler u. a., Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1994, pp. 182-187, here: p. 185.

literature

  • “Goya y Lucientes, Francisco José de”, in: Lexicon of Art, Vol. 5 (Gal-Herr) , ed. v. Wolf Stadler u. a., Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1994, pp. 182-187.
  • Goya. The age of revolutions. 1789-1830 . Munich 1980; P. 250
  • Carl Justi: Diego Velázquez and his century . (1888), Munich [1982]
  • José Lopez-Rey: Velázquez - Complete Works , Wildenstein Institute / Benedikt Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 1997: p. 116 (picture), p. 131, 133–136 (dwarf portraits), 138–139 (pictures), 261–263 ( Catalog).
  • "Velázquez, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y", in: Lexikon der Kunst, Vol. 12 (Tou-Zyp) , ed. v. Wolf Stadler u. a., Karl Müller Verlag, Erlangen 1994, pp. 113-123
  • Franz Zelger: Diego Velázquez . Reinbek 1994; P. 70f.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Morra, Sebastián de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Morra, Don Sebastián de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Court dwarf of King Philip IV of Spain
DATE OF BIRTH 17th century
DATE OF DEATH 17th century