Musketeer

‘Over the course of his career, Picasso relied on pictorial avatars to explore aspects of human nature and to chronicle his own evolutions as a man and an artist. The harlequin, for example, a theatrical character from the commedia dell´arte, came to embody the feelings of alienation and ambition that defined his early years in Paris. A different alter ego, derived from Greek mythology, emerged decades later in the form of the minotaur: a hybrid monster of animalistic power tempered by emotional frailty, who symbolically re-enacted the triumphs and troubles of Picasso´s maturity throughout the 1930s. In his seniority, the artist identified himself with the swashbuckling musketeer from the golden age of Spanish and Dutch painting, an epoch that produced creative geniuses for whom Picasso showed a special affinity, having by then secured his place among them in the annals of European art.

That affinity is conveyed visually and verbally in a sketchy painting of March 1967, depicting a male figure wearing the black garb, white ruffs, and long hair of seventeenth-century gentleman (fig. 1). In addition to signing his own name on the front of the canvas, Picasso inscribed the back with the invented signature of an imagined “super artist” whom calls “Domenico Theotocopulos van Rijn da Silva”. This, observes Dakin Hart, “is one of the most concrete pieces of evidence of the connection between the imaginary population of Picasso´s late work and some of more important Old Masters who initially inspired them: El Greco (Domenico Theotocopulos), Diego Rodríguez (da Silva) y Velázquez”. [1] The image both honors and caricatures the artistic trinity invoked by Picasso throughout the long series of Mosqueteros, as he called them, which began in December 1966, months after he had apparently become captivated by the novels of Alexandre Dumas while recovering from an emergency operation.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Musketeer (Domenico Theotocopulos van Rijn da Silva), Mougins. Ludwig Múzeum, Budapest © Photo: Jószef Rosta / Ludwig Museum – MoCA, Budapest © Succession Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2025

Henceforth, musketeers would proliferate in Picasso´s work on canvas, paper, and cardboard until his death. Among the many variations on the theme, the present painting is unique for its multipart terra-cotta support. Twelve joined ceramic squares give the composition an unmistakably Iberian spirit, evoking the centuries-old tradition of azulejo tile painting, found in churches, monasteries, and palaces in many parts of Spain and in particular in Seville, the birthplace of Velázquez. [2] Picasso´s lifelong admiration for his Baroque forebear began during his art-school days, when he faithfully copied the head of Velázquez´s portrait of King IV in the Museo del Prado, Madrid (fig. 2). Elements of that early work are reflected here in the musketeer´s long nose, upturned moustache, and broad collar.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Copia de Felipe IV de Velázquez, Madrid, 1897. Museu Picasso, Barcelona © Museu Picasso, Barcelona. Gasull Fotografía © Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2025

Aside from a few details of coiffure and costume, however, this deliberately diagrammatic painting look nothing like a Velázaquez. The thin slips and glazes used for coloring ceramic give it the flat and pictographic quality of a playing card. [3] The composition is executed in a king of painterly shorthand, using the briefest possible terms – so brief, in fact, that some forms are difficult to identify. Six solid-blue circles indicate the subject´s curly hair, while a banana-shaped swath of yellow paint probably denotes a foppish feather or blond wig. A few black brushstrokes create the hilt of a sword on the right, and, possibly, the carpentry of an armchair on the left. The white passage beside his mouth could represent a clay pipe, a common accoutrement of Picasso´s musketeers, given the smoky smudges at top left. Overall, this irreverent interpretation of aristocratic portraiture can be likened to Picasso´s mockery of military busts in his comical Head of a Warrior from 1933.

When showing his recent musketeers to friends, Picasso ascribed a different character to each: “With this one you´d better watch out. That one makes fun of us. That one is enormously satisfied. This one is a grave intellectual. And that one, look how sad he is, the poor guy. He must be a painter”. [4] if these works reflected different sides of Picasso´s own personality, then the present example seems to assert his proud and unwavering Spanishness. In a 1970 photograph taken at Notre-Dame-da- Vie, Picasso´s home in Mougins, this singular red-tile mural can be seen opposite the old malagueño, keeping his company like a compatriot from another age (fig.3).’ [5]

Edward Quinn (1920–1997). Pablo Picasso Working on the Etching ‘Les coulisses du tableau: odalisque et peintre’ (Behind the Scenes: Odalisque and Painter), Mougins, 1970. Edward Quinn Archive © edwardquinn.com © Succession Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid, 2025

[1] HART Dakin. “Le Mousquetaire”, in: RICHARDSON, John, Picasso: Mosqueteros, [Exh. Cat., New York, Gagosian Gallery, 2009]. New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2009, p.41.
[2] WILSON, Alice. Tiles Panels of Spain, 1500-1650. New York: Hispanic Society of America, 1969.
[3] André Malraux likened the musketeers to tarot figures. See his Picasso´s Mask, 1974. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976, p.77.
[4] PARMELIN, Hélène. Voyage en Picasso. Paris: Éditions Robert Laffont, 1980.
[5] Text by Ross Finocchio in: FITZGERALD, Michael (dir.). Pablo Picasso: Structures of Invention. The Unity of a Life’s Work. [Exh. Cat.: Museo Picasso Málaga, 2024]. Malaga: Museo Picasso Málaga, 2024, pp. 418-422.