Goya etching. A dwarf (Don Sebastian de Morra), after Velazquez.

Inscription content: Sacada y gravada del Quadro original de D. Diego Velazquez en que representa al vivo un Enano del S. Phelipe IV.; por Francisco de Goya Pintor. Existe en el Real Palacio de Madrid Año de 1778. Copies of three editions are preserved; the first was printed in black ink, the second in grayish sepia ink, and the third in dark brown ink. Don Sebastián de Morra was painted by Velázquez between 1643 and 1644 (Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid). It is a character who served in Flanders the cardinal infante Don Fernando de Austria, after whose death in 1641 he returned to Spain to enter the service of Prince Baltasar Carlos. He felt a sincere affection for him, to such an extent that he bequeathed some precious objects in his will. It is even believed that the dwarf accompanied the prince on some hunts to which the sovereign was very fond. Don Sebastián de Morra appears seated frontally, with his hands resting on his legs and staring at the viewer. The expression of the face condenses the awareness of his condition as well as his maturity contained, paradoxically, in a small body. She wears a green dress on which is arranged a purple and gold robe that Prince Baltasar Carlos may have given her. Goya has copied Velázquez's work with skill and precision. In this case, he makes insistent horizontal lines by means of which he builds the dark background in which the figure of the dwarf and his clothes are cut out. It only leaves a whiter area of ??paper on the front, on the soles of the shoes, on the hands, on the face and on the crimson clothes. It also describes the face in which he has been able to capture the intelligent and resigned expression of the dwarf. Size In good condition. Some rusts spots than can be seen in the image. Excellent antique frame with passepartout.