Velazquez, Los Borrachos, and Painting at the Court of Philip IV.

Steven N. Orso. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 208 pp. + 81 illus. $70.

Velazquez's first major mythological painting, "Los Borrachos" [The Drunkards], is an enigmatic work that has both delighted and puzzled its viewers over the centuries. The wide variety of titles -- well over ten -- by which the painting has been known attests to its elusive resistance to a definitive reading. Steven Orso's meticulously researched and convincingly argued study advances a new and intriguing interpretation of the painting, and proposes a correspondingly new title: "Bacchus in Iberia."

Orso uses reception theory both to build his argument and to locate his interpretation within the pantheon of earlier views. Historically, most explications of the painting viewed it either as a burlesque of classical mythology in which Velazquez pokes fun at the antics of the ancient "god" and his followers, or as a sympathetic and humane interpretation of Bacchus and his "brotherhood" in which, following the general trend of Baroque naturalism, the divine is humanized and made accessible to the common folk. The author reviews the various approaches, refuting some and adopting elements of others to support his argument.

An examination of the historical context of artistic theory and practice at the royal court suggests reasons why Velazquez may have undertaken this painting. "Los Borrachos" was painted some six years after Velazquez's appointment as court artist and official portraitist to Philip IV. Competition and rivalry separated the court painters into the "old guard," represented by Carducho and Cajes, who produced history paintings in a conservative and outmoded Mannerist style, and those such as Velazquez and Maino, who embraced the new style of Baroque naturalism The "old guard" held the traditional view that history painting was the most noble artistic expression, and in Orso's view, "Conservatives like Carducho and Cajes disparaged him [Velazquez] as a portraitist whose style consisted of an untutored imitation of nature." Could it be that "Los Borrachos," then, is an attempt by Velazquez to fuse the new naturalism with the genre of monumental history painting? Orso argues convincingly that "Los Borrachos" was painted partly as a response to criticism from certain well-established court artists.

After explaining why the painting may have been created, Orso then examines its subject matter, and therein is his major contribution. The key to Orso's view is the until now obscure role of Bacchus in Spanish history. Orso documents Bacchus's legendary conquest of Iberia as presented in numerous contemporary histories and literature, most notably in several works by Antonio de Nebrija, including his Cronica de los Reyes Catolicos, and in the royal historian Juan de Mariana's Historia general de Espana. These and other texts describe Bacchus in Iberia and highlight two aspects of his activities: his role as the giver of wine, bringing humanity relief from the burdens of daily life; and his role as conqueror and ruler of Iberia. Velazquez unites these two aspects of the god in "Los Borrachos," thus creating a history painting of nationalistic import.

The aspect of Orso's argument that is less convincing is his extension of the interpretation of the painting to include an analogy to the reign of Philip IV. According to this view, the painting glorifies the reign of Philip IV by likening it to the historical precedent of Bacchus, conqueror and compassionate ruler. Although Orso takes great pains to demonstrate that Bacchus was seen as benevolent rather than besotted, one wonders how such an analogy would have been perceived in Velazquez's day. It also raises questions as to how apparent this level of meaning would have been for even the most erudite at court.

In general, Orso's prose is clear and unobstructed, fluidly moving the reader through what might, in less skilled hands, be a dry exhibition of historical proofs. Overall, his interpretation is carefully argued, leaving one with the conviction that the painting indeed merits its proposed new title, "Bacchus in Iberia."