Juan de Pareja: how Velázquez’s slave became a renowned artist in his own right

Velázquez’s portrait of Juan de Pareja, which set the art world abuzz when he revealed it in 1650. Photograph: Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The portrait, showing a man of African descent gazing frankly towards the artist, set the art world abuzz when it was revealed by Diego Velázquez in 1650.

The painting cemented the artist’s stratospheric rise, but the spotlight has been recently cast on the extraordinary trajectory of the man who is the subject of the portrait, Juan de Pareja, who went from being enslaved in Velázquez’s studio for more than two decades to becoming a successful artist in his own right.