V E L 



V E L 



nice 1 few months, he went to Rome, where he was moil 

 graciouHy received by the cardinal Barberini, nephew to 

 Urban VIII., who procured for him apartments in the Va- 

 tican, and accefs at all times to the works of RafFaelle and 

 M. Angelo. During his refidencc at Rome, he painted his 

 celebrated hiftory of Jofeph's coat brouglit to Jacob ; and 

 alfo another very able work, of Apollo informing Vulcan 

 of the infidelity of Venus ; in which he had an opportunity 

 of difplaying his power of handling, and his admirable 

 lliill in colouring. Vulcan is at his forge, the light and 

 (hadow proceeding from which are moft flvilfully conduced : 

 the ilrong and mufcular forms of the Cyclops gracefully con- 

 trafted with the pure form of the Apollo ; and the whole 

 compofition arranged with infinite judgment. Both thefe 

 piftures were fent to Spain, and honoured by having diilin- 

 guilhed places afligned to them in the palace of the king. 



On his return home he went to Naples, and there 

 painted the portrait of Donna Maria of Auftria, queen 

 of Ferdinand III. After about the lapfe of a year and 

 a half, he arrived at Madrid, and found his favour with 

 his royal mafter undiminirtied. He was again lodged 

 in the royal palace, and the king kept a key of his paint- 

 ing room, that he might have free accefs to him without 

 ceremony ; and this he frequently indulged himfelf with, as 

 his great predeceflbr, Charles V., had done with Titian. 

 And fo ftrong were the refemblances in his pifturcs, that it 

 is faid the king, going into his room one day, expreffed 

 fome furprife, that a nobleman, to whom he had given a 

 commifllon which required his abfence from Madrid, had 

 not departed, imagining that he faw him in the room, when 

 it was in reality only his portrait. 



In 1638, Velafquez painted his moft celebrated piAure of 

 our Saviour on the Crofs, for the convent of St. Placido, 

 at Madrid ; and about the fame time, that of tlie general 

 Pefcara receiving the keys of a Flemilh citadel from the 

 governor of the place. The management of all the differ- 

 ent charafters, the officers, &c. and the effeft of the fortifi- 

 cation, &c. of the town and landfcape in the back-ground, 

 is altogether eulogized by Mengs as the chef-d'cEuvre of 

 Velafquez. 



Though his patron d'Olivarez fell into difgrace in 1643, 

 yet Velafquez maintained his intereft at the court ; and in 

 1648, was commiffioned by the king on a particular embaffy 

 to pope Innocent X., and at the fame time was empowered 

 to purchafe for his majefty the fineil works of art, both of 

 fculpture and painting, which he could procure in Italy. 

 On this occafion he embarked at Malaga, and having landed 

 at Genoa, paffed through Milan and Padua to Venice, where 

 he was well pleafed to renew acquaintance with the great 

 mafters of art, whom he had before beheld with fo much ad- 

 miration. He afterwards vifited Bologna ; and on his ar- 

 rival at Rome, was received with great favour and diilinc- 

 tion by the pope ; and in the unengaged moments of his 

 more ferious bufinefs, he painted a very fine portrait of his 

 holinefs, of which there is a capital exemplar at Luton, the 

 feat of the marquis of Bute, which has every charafter of 

 originality. For this painting, the pope gave him a gold 

 medal and chain ; and the acamedicians of St. Luke eletled 

 him of their body. 



After a lapfe of nearly three years, Valafquez took his 

 departure from Genoa, in a vefTel freighted with a magnifi- 

 cait colleftion of piftures, ftatues, bufts, &c. which he 

 had collefted, and on his arrival was moft graciou/ly re- 

 ceived by the king, and honoured with fur her marks of his 

 royal favour and bounty ; among which the order of San- 

 tiago was not the leaft, as being confined to perfons of the 

 liigheft rank, or the raoft eminent abilities. He thus lived, 



in honour and riches, till 1660, when the ruthk-fo hand of 

 death put an end to his labours and enjoyments. He was 

 buried with great funeral pomp in the church of San 

 Juan. 



VELATODURUM, or VelatuduRUM, in Ancient 

 Geography, a place on the route from Befan^on to Epaman- 

 dodurum or Mandura. 



VELAUNI, a people of the Maritime Alps near the 

 fea, E. of the Nerufii. 



VELAUR, in Geography, a river of Hindooftan, which 

 rifes near Attore, in the Myfore country, and runs into the 

 bay of Bengal, near Portonovo. 



VELAY, before the revolution, a country of France, 

 in Languedoc, fituated to the W. of the Vivarais, and the 

 E. of Auvergne. It is mountainous, but fertile : Le Puyen 

 Velay was the capital. It now conftitutes the department 

 of the Upper Loire. 



VELAZGHERD, a town of Perfia, in the province 

 of Kerman ; 54 miles N.E. of Gomron. N. lat. 28° 10'. 

 E. long. ^6" 34'. 



VELBERG, a town of Germany, in the territory of 

 the imperial town of Hall ; 7 miles E. of Hall. 



VELBERT, a town of the duchy of Berg; 5 miles 

 N.N.E. of Medman. 



VELBURG, a town of Bavaria, in the principality of 

 Neuburg ; 12 miles N. of Dietfurt. N. lat. 49° 10'. E. 

 long. 11° 28'. 



VELCERA, in Ancient Geography, a town on the coaft 

 of Illyria, between the mouth of the river CEneus and the 

 town of Senia. Ptolemy. 



VELDEN, in Geography, a town of Bavaria; 6 miles 

 S.S.W. of Landftiut. — Alio, a town of Germany, in the 

 territory of Nuremberg, on the Pregnitz ; 21 miles N.E. 

 of Nuremberg. N. lat. 49° 37'. E. long. 1 1° 31'. 



VELDENTZ, a town of France, in the department of 

 the Sarre, formerly capital of a county, in the circle of the 

 Upper Rhine, united with the palatinate ; the environs are 

 celebrated for an excellent Mofelle wine ; 17 miles E.N.E. 

 of Treves. N. lat. 49^ 55'. E. long. 6° 58'. 



VELEGIA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Africa, 

 in Libya Interior, fituated on the banks of the river Niger, 

 N. of it. Ptolemy. 



VELEIA, a town of Hifpania Citerior. — Alfo, a town 

 of Italy, S. of Placentia, in Gallia Cifpadana : now in 

 ruins. 



VELEN, in Geography, a town of Germany, in the 

 bifhopric of Munfter ; 22 miles W. of Munfter. 



VELETRI, a town of the Popedom, in the Campagna 

 di Roma. This was a very ancient town, and confiderable 

 in the time of the firft Roman kings. It was taken by 

 Ancus Martius, fourth king of the Romans, and retaken 

 by the Volfcians, under the command of Coriolanus. 

 The Romans took it again fome time after, and, removing 

 the inhabitants, filled it with a Roman colony. It is the 

 fee of a biftiop, united with Oftia, who is called the bifhop 

 of Oftia, but his refidence is at Vcletri ; 28 miles N.N.W. 

 of Terracina. N. lat. 41° 42'. E. long. 12° 50'. 



VELEZ, a town of South America, in New Grenada; 

 100 miles from Santa Fe de Bogota. N. lat. 5° 50'. W. 

 long. 73° 16'. 



Velez de Gomera. See Gomera. 



Velez Malaga, a fea-port town of Spain, in the pro- 

 vince of Grenada, near the coaft of the Mediterranean. 

 The chief article of trade is raifins. In 1487, this town 

 was taken from the Moors by Ferdinand, king of Caftilc and 

 Arragon ; 13 miles E. of Malaga. N, lal. 36° 47'. W. 

 long. 4° 18'. 



Velez 



