A VISUAL GUIDE THROUGH PRADO MUSEUM
VULCAN'S FORGE
ROOM 011
Floor 1
Velázquez
You are looking at a guide about trust. In these paintings, the main idea is how humans created classical myths to explain or compare them with real life. The goal is to teach a moral lesson to the viewer.
This specific painting, "Vulcan's Forge", shows us that even among the gods, deception was often about the heart, just like it happens with human beings. It demonstrates that betrayal in love is always the most painful of all.
Painting audio guide:
Audio made by Miguel Catalán highschool students Roberto and Ethan
Audio transcription:
“In this picture, we can see six guys without t-shirts in a forge making a tool with some iron. One of the guys is wearing a laurel crown. But the real meaning of this picture is that it's the moment when Apollo tells to Vulcan that Venus is cheating on him with Mars. We can also see that Vulcan's helpers are very surprised. All of this is happening in a forge, that is the place where blacksmiths work and make swords and other weapons. This painting belongs to the Baroque movement. Its size is 223 by 290 centimeters and it was painted in 1630 by Diego Velázquez while he was visiting Italy for the first time. This picture was painted with oil paint and very dark colors. Some of the characteristics of Baroque in this picture are realism, dynamism and drama. We can see that the facial expressions of the characters are very realistic. We can also see a very complex lightning treatment with some characters under a beam of light and others. Ovid recounts in the Metamorphoses that this painting represents the moment when Apollo goes to the workshop of the Olympian God to give Vulcan the unpleasant news that Venus was cheating on him with Mars. This masterpiece has been in the Prado Museum since the year 1819."
Did you know that...
Curiosity 1
In this mythological scene, we see two gods: Vulcan and Apollo. However, Apollo is the only one shown with a divine aura (the light around his head). This is not an accident! Apollo is the god of the arts, and Velázquez wanted to show that painting and intellectual arts are "higher" than manual work like blacksmithing, which was represented by Vulcan.
Curiosity 2
In the painting, you can see Vulcan working on a piece of armor, which was originally for the god Mars. But after Apollo tells him that Mars is having an affair with Vulcan's wife (Venus), Vulcan decides to change his plan. Instead of armor, he will create a metal net to trap the lovers and embarrass them in front of all the gods of Olympus.
Curiosity 3
Vulcan is not alone; he is surrounded by his helpers. In the original myths, these helpers are Cyclopes (giants with one eye). However, Velázquez decided to paint them as normal humans. They were likely models from his own studio, and if you look closely, they even have modern hairstyles from the artist’s time (the 17th century).
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@here.you_art
