may 15, 1648 - Peace of Westphalia

Description:

The Surrender of Breda (Velazquez, 1634-35)

In Surrender Velazquez depicts a cessation of hostilities at Breda, where the Spanish had defeated the Dutch Armies fighting for independence. A historically inaccurate depiction, Velazquez presents the Spanish as being especially numerous and well-ordered in comparison to the Dutch, this was an exaggeration of the facts. The Catholic Spanish General depicts great magnanimity in his gesture of meeting his Dutch counterpart bowing before him, a meeting that never occured. During this period of great conflict among the European powers, images served as powerful tools of shaping perception. Velazquez presents the Spanish in an incredibly favorable light, even though they would go on to lose Breda a few years after Surrender was painted, while still maintaining a façade of benevolence to the Dutch, a much more religiously tolerant European power. This was like the Peace at Westphalia which would follow a few years later and bring the Eight Years’ War that the Siege of Breda was part of to a conclusion. Even though a greater degree of religious freedom was granted by the peace treaty, each side would continue to claim superiority.

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