The Jester Barbarroja
| El bufón Barbarroja | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Diego Velázquez |
| Year | 1637-1640 |
| Type | Oil on canvas |
| Location | Museo del Prado, Madrid |
The jester Barbarroja (El bufón Barbarroja) is a portrait of Cristóbal de Castañeda y Pernia, nicknamed Barbarroja in his role as a jester at the court of Philip IV of Spain from 1633 to 1649, by Diego Velazquez. It is now in the Museo del Prado (in 1701 it was in the Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid and from 1816 to 1827 it was in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando).
Its subject also served Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria, for whom he played Barbarroja (the Turkish pirate defeated by Don John of Austria at the Battle of Lepanto) in comic plays. He was later banished from the court, to Seville, by the Duke of Olivares for a reply he gave the king when asked whether there were olives in the Segovian town of Balsain - to this, the jester punningly replied "Sir, neither olives nor Olivares".
Technique
Bibliography
- Museo del Prado. Pintura española de los siglos XVI y XVII. Enrique Lafuente Ferrari. Aguilar S.A. 1964