Souvenir of Velázquez, Las Meninas

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Souvenir of Velázquez, Las Meninas

Hercules Brabazon Brabazon (1821-1906)

Price

£6,500

Medium

Watercolour and bodycolour

Dimensions

9 ½ x 11 ½ inches

Exhibited

'Artist in Paradise', National Theatre, London, April-May 2010;
'Chris Beetles Summer Show 2025', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, June-September 2025, no 15

Brabazon first visited Madrid in 1848, encountering the work of Velázquez at the Museo del Prado. Las Meninas has been part of the collection since the museums conception but was officially registered with this name in the 1843 catalogue, just a few years before Brabazon would paint this souvenir.
Due to its size and value the painting is never loaned, and the only time it left the Prado is during the evacuation in the last months of the Spanish Civil War in 1939. Therefore, we can be certain that Brabazon studied this important picture amongst works by Velázquez that influenced his own work.

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