During the last week in Rome I tried to travel back a few centuries ago and imagine Diego Velazquez visiting the city in 1630. Walking through the rooms of the Barberini Palace, wandering at the Vatican Museum I look intensely at those artists who fascinated him. What did Velazquez think when he came to the halls of Raphael and the Sistine Chapel, when he first faced the masterpieces of Caravaggio? It’s amazing the fascination that these works still produce today. I like to imagine when he met his Italian contemporaries. The art he was just discovering, those have had around forever. How was the meeting between Velázquez and Guercino in Cento? Did Guercino explain the secret of the white reflection of his paintings? What he felt under the frescoes of Pietro da Cortona?… How sad Diego must have felt upon returning back to Spain!
