Antonio Torné I Sevilla, (EFE).- The problems to rent a house are not new and Diego Velázquez suffered them at the beginning of the 17th century, when in 1620 he needed witnesses and guarantors to sign a lease, inconveniences that disappeared two years later, when the painter was already famous and wanted to rent again.
These circumstances are revealed by two documents that the Provincial Historical Archive of Seville has made public thanks to the work of the art historian and professor at the University of Seville Jesús Palomero Páramo.
Páramo has brought to light two rental contracts signed by Velázquez, during his time in Seville, a “poorly documented” time.
These documents show that in the summer of 1620, when Velázquez was a still unrecognized painter, he rented a house and needed two witnesses as guarantors.
However, in the second contract, dated March 8, 1622, it is evident how fame managed to get the genius to dispense with this procedure.
Velázquez’s first home rental
These leases were signed before his definitive transfer to Madrid when he was appointed in October 1623, at the age of 24, court painter to Felipe IV.
Until then, he lived in Seville “on loan from his in-laws, or staying in rented houses,” according to Páramo. He remembers how this stage was present in his life, since in court he was described as “el sevillano” due to his origin and the seseo of him.
Velázquez rented his first home “in the street they say del Garzo”, according to the documents, after painting / the portrait of mother Jerónima de la Cruz, since he needed a larger home for “having received an apprentice and waiting for the birth of his second daughter”, explains the historian.
The rental price was set at 6 ducats per month and, for the security of the landlord, the artist’s father, Juan Rodríguez de Silva, signed the protocol as his son’s guarantor.
The act took place in the public notary of Gaspar Reyes de Avendaño, who declared that he knew Velázquez’s father and the landlord, Hernando Casaprín.
However, at this time the notary said that he did not know the painter, despite the fact that he already had a work of 17 large paintings, for which reason he requested the presence of two witnesses to guarantee his identity, who were Pedro de Valenzuela and Pedro Ortiz.
Barely a year and a half later, fame had smiled on Velázquez and the legal process to sign another rental contract was not so difficult.
Seville Provincial Historical Archive
On March 8, 1622, the painter leased a second home in this series, although this time the notary public Juan Bautista de Contreras did not need witnesses to certify its existence.
The transfer of this property occurred after the butler of the San Hermenegildo Hospital, who was the owner, offered it to Velázquez for 7.5 ducats per month and for life and that of a son or heir.
The house, which was located on Garbancera street, located in the San Lorenzo neighborhood, was hardly enjoyed by the painter, since Velázquez traveled to Madrid that April, according to the historian.
In October of that year, Velázquez moved to the capital of the kingdom, so the estate remained in the hands of his father, as it appears in the Protocol Book of Leases and Taxes of the San Hermenegildo Hospital.
These documents, which expand knowledge about the early years of Velázquez, will be part of the activity organized every month by the Seville Provincial Historical Archive entitled “Documés”.
The objective of this activity is the exhibition of documents belonging to this institution chosen, according to the note, “because of their singularity and their content” and also, because they are relevant to illustrate a historical fact. EFE