The Dwarf Francisco Lezcano

The Dwarf Francisco Lezcano, painted around 1642-1645 and now in the Prado, belongs to Velázquez's celebrated series of portraits of the court dwarfs and jesters who lived at Philip IV's court. Like all his dwarf portraits, Velázquez treats his subject without condescension or pity — Francisco is shown with the same complete attention and psychological respect he accorded kings and ministers. The specificity of his face, the careful observation of his unusual physical form, and the quality of his interior life visible in his expression refuse the conventional reduction of court dwarfs to curiosity or entertainment. Velázquez's insistence on the full humanity of figures who occupied the most marginal and humiliating position in the court hierarchy is one of the most radical qualities of his portraiture.

The figure is rendered with the same careful observation Velazquez applied to all his sitters. The developmental condition that defined Lezcano's appearance is recorded without caricature or pity, the painter's eye finding the specific individual beneath the condition.