Old Woman Frying Eggs
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''Old Woman Frying Eggs'' is a
genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...
by
Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptised 6 June 15996 August 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the Noble court, court of King Philip IV of Spain, Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He i ...
, produced during his
Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...
period. The date is not precisely known but is thought to be around the turn of 1618 before his definitive move to
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
in 1623. The painting is in the
Scottish National Gallery The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Play ...
in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. Velázquez frequently used working-class characters in early paintings like this one, in many cases using his family as models; the old woman here also appears in his '' Christ in the House of Martha and Mary'' (1618). There is some dispute about what cooking process is actually depicted with some suggesting not
frying Frying is the cooking of food in cooking oil, oil or another fat. Similar to sautéing, pan-fried foods are generally turned over once or twice during cooking to make sure that the food is evenly cooked, using tongs or a spatula, whilst sautéed ...
but
poaching Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...
, leading to an alternative title of the painting, ''Old Woman Cooking Eggs'' or ''Old Woman Poaching Eggs''. ''Old Woman Frying Eggs'' is considered to be one of the strongest of Velázquez's early works. Like others, it shows the influence of
chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...
, with a strong light source coming in from the left illuminating the woman, her utensils and the poaching eggs, while throwing the background and the boy standing to her right into deep shadow. Here the chiaroscuro is very intense, so much so that it would be impossible to see the wall at the bottom of the painting but for the basket hanging from it; it simultaneously manages to combine the murky darkness and high contrasts of light and shadow with the use of subtle hues and a palette dominated by ochres and browns. The composition is organised as an oval with the middle figures in the nearest plane, thus drawing in the viewer. The realism is nearly photographic and shows everyday plates, cutlery, pans, pestles, jugs and mortars, capturing the special shine on a glass surface and the light's play on the melon carried by the boy. The boiling pan is particularly well-captured, with its reflections and the whites of the eggs. Velázquez also worked particularly hard on the detail of the two figures' hands.


See also

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List of works by Diego Velázquez This is a list of paintings and drawings by the 17th-century Spanish artist Diego Velázquez. Velázquez is estimated to have produced between only 110 and 120 known canvases. Among these paintings, however, are many widely known and influential ...


References


External links


''Velázquez ''
exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on ''Old Woman Frying Eggs'' (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Woman Frying Eggs 1618 paintings Seville-period paintings by Diego Velázquez Paintings in National Galleries Scotland Paintings by Diego Velázquez Food and drink paintings Genre paintings Oil on canvas paintings Eggs in culture Paintings of women