Kitchen Scene
About the painting
The Kitchen Maid (in Spanish La mulata, La cocinera or Escena de cocina (Kitchen Scene)) and Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus are two paired domestic paintings by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez from his early Seville period. A wide range of dates has been suggested for its completion, although most place it between 1620 and 1622. The first version is kept in the Art Institute of Chicago; the second version is held at the National Gallery of Ireland.
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José López-Rey suggests that this picture could be related to a lost Velázquez painting described by Antonio Palomino "... where a board is seen, that serves as a table, with a charcoal burner, and a pot boiling on top, and covered with a bowl, and the fire is visible, the flames, and the sparks are clearly visible, a small tin saucepan, an alcarraza, some plates, and some basins, a glazed jug, a mortar with its pestle and a head of garlic next to it; and on the wall there is small basket and a cloth hanging from a hook, and other trinkets; and guarding this is a boy holding a jug, wearing a coif, who with his humble clothes represents a subject that is very ridiculous and amusing". The Dublin version was bequeathed by Alfred Beit in 1987. A 1933 cleaning revealed a depiction of Jesus’ supper at Emmaus on the wall behind the main figure.
The Chicago painting was bought from the Goudstikker gallery in Amsterdam by August L. Mayer and presented to the Institute in 1927. It was at the time thought to be the Velázquez original, relegating the Beit painting to the status of a copy. A number of art experts agreed with this opinion, including Bernardino Pantorba and José Gudiol, however, López-Rey recognized that the painting in Dublin came from the hand of Velázquez, casting doubt on the originality of the painting in Chicago due to its poor state of conservation. The Velázquez expert Jonathan Brown agreed with this reasoning, suggesting that the Chicago painting was “possibly” painted by Velázquez. He also suggested that the picture might be a copy produced by an artist who "wanted to draw on the success of genre paintings by Velázquez and who might have produced a large number of replicas and versions of the originals".
Meanwhile, in the life of Diego Velázquez
The whole life1611–1617
Friendship with Alonso Cano and Francisco de Zurbarán
In the school of Pacheco — a man of broad culture and censor of religious painting for the Inquisition in Seville — Velázquez befriended the future sculptor and painter Alonso Cano and Francisco de Zurbarán.
1611–1622 · Workplace
Seville
14 March 1617
Qualifies as a master painter
Velázquez passed his examination and, with Pacheco's backing, was admitted to the painters' guild of Seville, with the right “to practise his art in the kingdom, keep a workshop and hire apprentices”.
23 April 1618
Marries Juana, his teacher's daughter
The nineteen-year-old Velázquez married Pacheco's fifteen-year-old daughter Juana. Such marriages between painters' families were common, as they eased the search for work and commissions.
23 April 1618
Married: Juana Pacheco
1619–1621
Births of his daughters Francisca and Ignacia
His elder daughter Francisca was born in 1619, and Ignacia in 1621; Ignacia died in infancy.
