All of us have choices. One of the most important is whether we want to be a person who destroys or one who creates, a person who burns or one who saves.
Douglas Murray reflecting on how very nearly Las Meninas by Velasquez was lost to fire
Velasquez sketch of Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, 1st Duke of Sanlúcar, 3rd Count of Olivares c1630s Musee de Beaux-Arts, Paris.
Even though they did not return from Spain with the Infanta, the trip to Spain was nonetheless a learning experience and especially so for George. Olivares was an example of just how powerful favourites could be and the blurring of the line between favourite and minister.
For 2 decades Gaspar de Guzman, Conte de Olivares was the virtual ruler of Spain and its vast empire on behalf of the dull witted and disengaged Philip iv. Despite his herculean attempts to reverse the decline of Spain and exploit the monarchy’s resources more effectively, Olivares was overthrown in a coup lead by Philip’s queen in 1643, his policies having collapsed into rebellion at home and military failure abroad. He died in internal exile in 1645.
It’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot since I found out about the Autism thing, ‘reasonable adjustments’, it is also something that I am doing a heck of a lot right now in my own art. I have been working on parodies, pastiches, bad knock offs, whatever, of, for want of a better word ‘classic’ art. Maybe commonly recognisable art would be a better term. I am having to work within a number of necessary…