Juan de Pareja: A Painter’s Story

Take a deep dive into the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s recently acquired painting, Dog with a Candle and Lilies (early 1660s), by Spanish painter Juan de Pareja. Discover the complicated history of Pareja’s journey from enslaved painting assistant to Diego Velázquez, for whom he stretched canvases and ground paint, to a respected independent portrait painter in his own right. Thought to be a fragment of a larger portrait of Saint Dominic, the oil painting of a small dog with a lit candle in its mouth will be exhibited alone in the Davis Lab. Guests are invited to contemplate the artist’s remarkable story and share their thoughts in a written response station.

This acquisition to the IMA’s permanent collection is a part of our commitment to expand our collection with works by underrepresented and marginalized artists.