Portrait of Sebastián de Morra

Don Sebastian de Morra ( 17th century, exact dates unknown ) was a court dwarf and belonged to the court of King Philip IV of Spain Entourage. He was depicted by the court painter Diego Velázquez 's life.

The dwarf

At the court of Philip IV is held on a whole bunch of court jesters and dwarves; is reported, the tendency to melancholy rulers have neither eat nor drink without these jokers. The court society used to look down on the dwarves with their misshapen bodies and sometimes debil - distorted faces. Velázquez shows the little man with a serious, but keep a sharp eye on the viewer. The person sitting on the floor with the body outstretched short legs, however, conveys the image of a remote puppet; the clenched into fists hands foreshadow a possible spastic paralysis. The contrast is enhanced by the red trimmed with gold mantle, the deformity of the Dwarf - emphasized - a normal growth torso with crippled limbs.

Reception

Comes an etching by Francisco de Goya who had made the Prado after the painting of the artist colleagues from the year 1778. The dwarf appears at Goya with a changed expression on her face: less serious and concentrated as suspicious and aggressive. Background and space remain undetermined. The presentation gives an impression of the materiality of the essence and can be interpreted as an expression of dealing with the human problems of misshapen creatures.

In 1982, Salvador Dalí quoted the work of the famous Velázquez colleagues in a series of images in different techniques. An oil painting with collage shows the court dwarf against the background of the Escorial, the royal residence, with fried eggs on the head, shoulders and hands.