Juan de Pareja

Juan de Pareja (born c. 1610, Antequera, Spain—died 1670, Madrid) was a Spanish painter and student of Diego Velázquez. Pareja initially assisted Velázquez in his studio as an enslaved person.

Pareja accompanied Velázquez on his second visit to Italy (1649–51), where Velázquez painted Pareja’s portrait. The portrait was purchased at auction by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1970 for nearly $5.5 million, a record at the time. According to early writers, Pareja painted in the manner of Velázquez, but his only known portrait is a mere reflection of Velázquez’s style. Other works, such as The Flight into Egypt (1658) and The Calling of Saint Matthew (1661), show greater variety in style. In 1650, while in Rome, Velázquez signed a legal document that granted Pareja his freedom four years later.