59 pages • 1 hour read
I, Juan de Pareja
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Chapters 11-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary: “In Which I Return to Italy”
Murillo remains with Diego and Juan for three years until he finally returns to Seville. In 1649, the King again commissions Diego to journey to Italy to collect paintings and statues to beautify the royal museums. As before, Diego takes Juan with him. They sail from Malaga, Spain. A winter storm roils the sea, and Diego again falls ill. As Diego tries to cross the swaying cabin, he falls into the bulkhead, severely injuring his right hand. Though Juan tends him, when they finally land in Genoa, Diego’s hand is swollen and painful. As Diego distrusts Italian surgeons, Juan must care for Diego’s hand alone. Juan binds the hand in a hot cloth and directs Diego to drink broth and wine. When Diego’s hand finally heals, he prompts Juan to request something in return for his care. However, Juan defers the promise and wishes only for Diego’s good health.
Diego and Juan travel through Italy, collecting artwork for the King. The Italian countryfolk impress them with their generosity, and Diego often pauses to paint a scene. When a storm descends, Diego’s hand once again swells, causing fever. He worries that if his hand does not heal, his career will flounder. When his healing shows no progress, Juan leaves him at an inn and goes to church, begging the Virgin Mary for assistance. He promises that should she cure Diego, he’ll confess his secret painting. When Juan returns to the inn, Diego has miraculously recovered. The next day, they set out for Venice.
On the road to Venice, Juan notices the subtle differences in light. Once established in the city, Diego begins to paint again, but his recent illness troubles his soul. Disgusted, he tears up a half-completed portrait and returns the payment to the sitter. However, as they journey onward to Rome, Juan assures Diego that his skill will never abandon him.
Once in Rome, Juan and Diego are invited to stay with Don Rodrigo de Foncerrada and his wife, both friends of the Spanish king. Don Rodrigo arranges for Diego to meet Pope Innocent X at the Vatican. Juan accompanies him to St. Peter’s, marveling at the artwork that adorns the Roman avenues. When Diego is summoned to the Pope’s audience, Juan remains in the church and kneels, though his knees trouble him, as he has now reached 40. As he waits, he looks carefully at Michelangelo’s statue La Pietà. Diego eventually joins him, and they gaze together in silence before departing. Diego reveals that the Pope has asked him to paint his portrait. Though Juan rejoices, Diego remains ambivalent, understanding that the portrait must truly be great. To help Diego practice, Juan offers to sit for him, and Diego agrees.
Chapter 12 Summary: “In Which My Portrait Is Painted”
Diego and Juan remain in Italy, and Diego begins Juan’s portrait. Per Diego’s instructions, Juan wears his usual clothes and a white collar that he has borrowed from Diego. Diego poses Juan so that he looks over his left shoulder and recommends that he stare at him as if he were a stranger. When the portrait is completed, Juan marvels at both its likeness and its emotional depth. Juan compliments Diego’s ability to render both the sitter’s outward appearance and their inner thoughts. After viewing the portrait, Juan washes Diego’s brushes as usual.
Many Italian nobles are frustrated that a Spaniard has been commissioned to paint the Pope, and they refuse to court Diego for their own portraits. To rectify this, Juan decides to show his portrait to the Duke of Ponti, a prominent nobleman, to convince him of Diego’s skill. One day, when Diego is otherwise occupied, Juan walks to the Duke’s house carrying the portrait. The Duke is impressed and promises to commission a portrait of his wife that very afternoon. He also asks Juan to return the next day.
The Duke visits Diego in his studio but does not mention Juan’s portrait. The next day, Juan returns to the Duke’s home, again carrying his portrait. He encounters both the Duke and another Italian nobleman, stout and pale eyed. Noticing that the stout nobleman has brought his own portrait for comparison, Juan figures that the two men have organized a wager. After viewing Juan’s portrait and admitting that it is superior, the stout nobleman concedes, forfeiting a small bag of ducats. When the Duke tosses Juan a ducat for his sportsmanship, Juan refuses to catch it, waiting until the Duke hands it to him instead.
Thanks to Juan’s efforts, Diego receives commissions from several prominent Italians, though he still tends tirelessly to his portrait of Pope Innocent X. When Juan observes the first mock-ups of the final portrait, he finds the Pope’s countenance powerful but also cruel and preoccupied. Juan wonders if the Pope might resent Diego’s depiction, but Diego assures him that the Pope will likely appreciate its connotations of power. When Diego unveils the finished portrait, Juan applauds its mastery.
As Christmas approaches, Diego and Juan travel back to Spain. Juana, Paquita, and Juan Bautista celebrate their homecoming. Juan is happy to be home but struggles against a bittersweet surprise: Juana has purchased a new enslaved servant, Lolis, from the Duke of Mancera. Lolis organizes the household and looks after Juana, whose recent illness has compromised her mobility. Juan and Lolis slowly strike up a friendship. Juan admits that she’s not as beautiful as Miri, but he admires her strong frame and quick, passionate temper. She admits to Juan that Juana is likely dying. Though Lolis thinks cynically of all white people, Juan attests to Diego and Juana’s goodness. One day, Lolis reads Juan’s palm. She says that his future is hazy but speculates that his afterlife will be golden.
Remembering Diego’s promise that he deferred after curing him, Juan resolves to ask him for Lolis’ hand in marriage. Similarly, remembering his vow to the Virgin Mary, Juan realizes that he must finally reveal his secret painting to Diego.
Chapter 13 Summary: “In Which I Am Made Free”
The King often escapes to Diego’s studio and quietly observes his many canvases. Juan recently finished a painting of the King’s favorite hunting dogs, including Corso. Juan plans to show the canvas to both the King and Diego and thereby confess his deceit.
The King arrives in the studio and discovers Juan’s painting, immediately recognizing his own pets. Juan falls to his knees and begs for mercy, admitting to practicing in secret. He insists that he also deceived Diego. When the King wonders how to reprimand “this disobedient slave” (155), Diego asks to complete an urgent letter before their discussion proceeds. The King consents. When Diego finishes, he approaches Juan, still kneeling. “Get up, Juan” (156), he says, abandoning his familiar address of Juanico. When Juan reads the letter, he realizes that he has been freed, effective immediately. The King smiles, realizing that Juan is now exempt from prosecution. Diego declares Juan his studio assistant. When Juan habitually refers to Diego as “Master,” Diego insists that Juan abandon the practice, preferring “Diego” instead. Juan counters that “Master” may also mean teacher and is therefore appropriate.
As Diego and Juan wander back home, Juan asks Diego for permission to marry Lolis. Diego consents, promising to similarly convince Juana. Back home, Lolis informs them that Juana’s condition has worsened. Lolis later admits to Juan that Juana’s gentle kindness has encouraged her fondness. Juana unexpectedly rallies. When she is well enough, Diego convinces her to agree to Lolis and Juan’s marriage. However, Lolis refuses to marry Juan, explaining that since she is still enslaved, their children would be enslaved, too. To rectify this, Juana immediately frees Lolis.
Once alone, Juan and Lolis thank God for their freedom. Though Lolis acknowledges Juana’s kindness, she admits that she always resented her enslavement, knowing that God intends for everyone to be free. Juan and Lolis are hopeful for their children but realize that it will be a long time before slavery is totally eradicated.
Chapter 14 Summary: “In Which I Say a Sad Good-by”
Lolis and Juan marry in a ceremony attended by Diego, Juan Bautista, and Paquita, who is expecting another child. Juana’s health prevents her from attending. Not long after the wedding, Paquita dies during childbirth, and her baby is delivered stillborn. Seriously grieved, Juana’s health rapidly declines, and she dies within the next two months. Diego suffers silently, neglecting his own health, but the King visits every day, cheering up Diego with his companionship. Diego still draws, but his compositions suffer, and he often scraps his work before finishing.
One day, the King arrives at Diego’s studio, attended by a court crier. The crier announces that the King’s daughter, the Infanta Maria Theresa, will marry King Louis XIV of France in a proxy ceremony. Even though Louis XIV will not attend the ceremony himself, King Philip still hopes for an extravagant ceremony, and he tasks Diego with its planning.
Diego works tirelessly to plan the event, hoping to earn the King’s esteem. Juan travels with him to the proposed site, an island in the middle of the River Bidassoa, which runs between Spain and France. Though mosquitoes often swarm the island at daybreak, by the afternoon, the summer heat drives them away. Juan, Diego, and a team of workmen ready the site. Though Juan and Diego both remain healthy, several workmen succumb to fever and die.
Diego designs a rectangular courtyard with an open roof, certain that it will not rain. He adorns the space with flowers and blossoming vines and cleverly uses mirrors to mimic a whole garden of blooms. He also provides two religious paintings to grace the altar. Their composition is light and silvery, and Juan notices a contrast to Diego’s usual shadowy backgrounds.
Juan and Diego attend the wedding, and Juan exclaims at the ceremony’s beauty. When the party returns to Madrid, the King invites Diego to partake in the many festivities, but Diego declines, citing his exhaustion. Once they return home, Juan notices that Diego is sick with a fever. He, Lolis, and Dr. Mendez each try to nurse him back to health, but the fever persists. Though thin and feeble, Diego suddenly rallies. Juan and Lolis supervise his convalescence, and Juan holds a mirror while Diego attempts to shave himself.
One day, Juan accompanies Diego to the studio, supporting Diego on his arm. Diego breaks away and heads toward a blank canvas, but before he can reach his easel, he falls and dies. Diego is buried beside Paquita and Juana, and the King grieves his loss. Juan is heartbroken but confesses that he cannot weep.
Juan and Lolis decide to move back to Seville, as Madrid has become too lonely. When Juan visits the King to officially take his leave, he notices that the King has saved some of Diego’s paints and brushes. The King regrets that he had not honored Diego as a knight of Santiago before his death. He notes that Diego included a small self-portrait in a larger painting of the King and his family entitled Las Meninas. The King plans to paint the Cross of Santiago on Diego’s self-portrait, thereby conferring Diego’s knighthood posthumously. Juan agrees to help him. Hand-in-hand, they paint the red cross.
As Lolis and Juan leave Madrid, Juan grieves the loss of his home with Diego. However, Lolis reminds him, “[H]ome is where I am now, Husband” (173).
Chapter 15 Summary: “In Which I Find Another Home”
Juan and Lolis relocate to Seville. Juan is happy that its trade centers still bustle with life. The same statues still guard Juan’s favorite cathedral, and Juan recognizes the value of coming “full circle in one’s life” (175).
Before looking for a permanent home, Juan visits Murillo, who has since married and established a prominent studio. Murillo is glad to see him and invites him inside to catch up. Juan tells of Diego’s death and mentions that the King has adorned Diego’s self-portrait with the Cross of Santiago. When Juan mentions that he plans to look for a studio, Murillo invites him and Lolis to live with his family. Murillo offers his studio for Juan’s use and promises that his children will wash Juan’s brushes. Deeply grateful, Juan accepts but realizes that he has not identified himself as a free man. However, Juan chooses not to tell Murillo just yet, realizing that to Murillo, Juan’s social status had never truly mattered. Juan appreciates Murillo’s friendship as “one of the heart” (176).
Chapters 11-15 Analysis
The novel’s final section explores art’s relationship to physicality while similarly highlighting its spirituality and potential for transformation. De Treviño also explores the changing dynamic between Juan and Diego, underscoring their similarities and suggesting a power shift that coincides with Juan’s freedom. As Juan nears the conclusion of his character arc, he begins to look forward, and these last chapters foreground discussions of art, freedom, and legacy.
At this section’s beginning, the King commissions Diego to visit Italy and collect pieces for the royal collection, as he did earlier in the novel. Just like the prior trip, Diego brings only Juan. Juan’s first trip to Italy was a creative awakening, exposing him to artistic techniques that encourage his secret painting practice, and here de Treviño uses the same setting to explore Juan’s artistic development. As Juan and Diego journey, their ship is tossed in a violent storm, “heaving and straining and wallowing” (130). The storm’s turbulence foreshadows a similar cataclysm in Juan and Diego’s relationship; just as towering waves upset the ship’s balance, so too will the power dynamics shift in Diego and Juan’s relationship.
Aboard the ship, Diego seriously injures his hand and worries over his career as a result. Juan understands his anxiety, characterizing Diego’s hand as “all the knowledge, all the skill, all the art that he had learned in almost thirty years of steady labor” (133). Diego’s hand is how he creates art, and its injury bodes a disruption in his livelihood. Here, Diego and Juan are similarly appreciated for their physical capabilities. As an enslaved man, Juan has long been valued for his body, and Diego, too, is only worthy insofar as he is physically healthy. Furthermore, in specifically designating art as Diego’s “labor,” de Treviño examines the politics of servitude that complicate both Juan and Diego’s existence. Juan is enslaved by Diego, while Diego serves and works at the pleasure of the King. Diego may have raw talent, but only through the King’s patronage can that talent flourish. Though Juan’s situation is unquestionably more dire than Diego’s, each labors under an expectation of service and is similarly prized for his physical integrity, highlighting the theme of Art as a Tool of and Cure for Oppression.
De Treviño also underscores art’s spiritual potential and its power to transform people. Juan notices that the “pain and fear of losing his hand” has affected Diego “in his soul” (135), and his artwork suffers accordingly. Though Juan heals his hand twice, Diego meditates on a deeper concern, aware of the preciousness and precarity of his gift. This spiritual turmoil affects Diego like a physical injury, suggesting that creating art depends on both physical and spiritual security.
Juan remedies both aspects of Diego’s turmoil. He physically heals Diego’s hand, applying “soothing leaves and hot cloths” (131), and similarly quells Diego’s doubts concerning his talent’s posterity. Juan not only comforts Diego but also sits for a practice portrait and later advertises Diego’s work to interested Italian noblemen, earning Diego new commissions. Juan heals Diego both physically and spiritually, allowing him to express himself with the same passion and confidence as before; he restores Diego’s potential for self-actualization.
Recognizing this, Diego plans to paint Juan so that his portrait of the Pope meets his high standards. However, though the portrait is technically a draft, Diego does not approach it lightly or exempt it from his usual precision. Juan applauds it for its likeness but, more significantly, appreciates its thoughtfulness. Juan is amazed that Diego can render “what you see on the outside, and also, just as clearly, what there [is] in the inside” (141). Diego presents Juan as a complex human being, elevating him above stereotypical notions of slavery and advocating instead for Juan’s deeper humanity. This furthers the theme of The Relative Truth of Art, and it is not long after this that Juan is freed.
After Juan is granted his freedom, his and Diego’s roles switch, foreshadowing Diego’s death and Juan’s own emergence as an accomplished artist. For instance, when Lolis reads Juan’s palm, it echoes Juan’s own attention to Diego’s injured hand. Juan even points out that his hand is “paint-stained” (150), evidence of his artistic endeavors. The juxtaposition between these two scenes highlights Juan’s similarity to Diego and foreshadows his artistic future. When Diego is in the throes of his final illness, Juan holds up a “mirror, so that [Diego can] sit up and shave himself” (170). Diego’s portrait of Juan presented the latter with an extension of his soul—an “other self” (145), as Juan called it—and in supplying the mirror, Juan offers Diego a similar opportunity for self-recognition. Furthermore, at the novel’s end, when Juan marks Diego’s masterpiece, Las Meninas—a symbol of Diego’s posterity—de Treviño grants Juan power over Diego’s legacy.
Questions of freedom and legacy occupy much of the novel’s end. When Juan, newly free, proposes to Lolis, she refuses, explaining that she does not wish to “bear any children into slavery” (160). A child assumes the status of its mother—free or enslaved—and Lolis’s refusal speaks to a deeper anxiety about slavery’s permanence. Though Lolis is eventually freed, in reminding Juan and Diego about such laws, Lolis introduces the lasting trauma of slavery and the perniciousness with which it affects succeeding generations. Juan and Lolis both agree that “it will take a long time, and much bloodshed” before slavery is abolished (162). Here, de Treviño elevates her examination of slavery from an individual to a collective perspective, attesting to its pervasiveness and foreshadowing the long road to liberty.
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