Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

Kitchen Scene

A work made of oil on canvas.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of oil on canvas.

Date:

1618/20

Artist:

Diego Velázquez
Spanish, 1599-1660

About this artwork

In this modest kitchen scene, a type known as a bodegón (from the Spanish for pantry), Diego Velázquez depicted a young African woman at work, surrounded by exquisitely rendered pots, jugs, a mortar and pestle, and a crumpled paper wrapper for spices. Slavery was widespread in the young artist’s hometown of Seville: Velázquez, his father, and his teacher, Francisco Pacheco, were all enslavers. In creating this painting, Velázquez may have used an enslaved woman from one of these households as a model.

Status

On View, Gallery 212

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Diego Velázquez

Title

Kitchen Scene

Place

Spain (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1618–1622

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

55.9 × 104.2 cm (21 7/8 × 41 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Robert A. Waller Memorial Fund

Reference Number

1935.380

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/21934/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share