"The Dwarf Francisco Lezcano, Called "El Niño de Vallecas"

During the 1630s and 1640s Vel�zquez painted a series of portraits of the courtdwarfs, playmates of the royal children, for they interested him as character studies.

For his pictures of the fools and dwarfs Vel�zquez often chose the format of a rectangle coming down close to the head, within which the figures crouch as if in a compact, closely circumscribed world; an example is the portrait the Dwarf Francisco Lezcano, painted by Vel�zquez around 1643-1645 as a retarded boy of fifteen. It was a burlesque piece that formed part of the decoration of the Torre de la Parada. The feeble-minded dwarf, dressed in green, is lovingly caressing the playing cards he holds. His bloated, over-large features are almost monumental, and a curious beauty plays over the face of the hydrocephalic dwarf.