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Old Woman Frying Eggs
Diego Velázquez · Baroque & Dutch Golden Age
- Artist
- Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599–1660)
- Date
- 1618
- Dimensions
- 100.5 x 119.5 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Old Woman Frying Eggs is a kitchen scene painted by Velázquez in Seville when he was only about nineteen. An old woman cooks eggs in an earthenware dish over a small stove, while a boy brings her a melon and a flask of oil.
A closer look
Strong light from the left falls on the figures against a dark background, in the manner of Caravaggio. The young painter displays his skill in the precise rendering of everyday objects: the glazed dish with the eggs turning white in the oil, a brass mortar and pestle, a glistening onion, a copper pot, a knife balanced over the edge of a bowl. The two figures do not look at each other and seem lost in thought. This type of picture, a kitchen scene with still life, was known in Spain as a 'bodegón'.
More by Diego Velázquez
In this gallery
The Surrender of Breda
Portrait of Innocent X
Las Meninas
The Rokeby Venus (The Toilet of Venus)
The Spinners (The Fable of Arachne)
Portrait of Juan de Pareja