The portrait above by 17th-century Spanish artist Diego Velázquez is of his enslaved assistant Juan de Pareja. Without even fine-tuning his brushstrokes, Velázquez captured Pareja's dignity and refinement with a touch of pain in the eyes as well as -or even better than- any photograph could have. Pareja prepared paints and canvasses for Velázquez for decades while becoming an accomplished artist himself. The intriguing portrait was popular among those who saw it, and led to Pareja's manumission, although the agreement predated Pareja's actual freedom by four years.
A new exhibition at the Met titled Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic Painter highlights Pareja's life and art, including the masterpiece The Calling of Saint Matthew, into which Pareja inserted a self-portrait. Piecing together Pareja's life story was more difficult than assembling his works. The fame he built in the art world led to tall tales and legends, and his enslaved status led to a lack of documentation. Get a glimpse into the life and work of Juan de Pareja at Atlas Obscura.