Editing and transcription criteria

This database is limited to documents and texts on Diego Velázquez, his family and his works up to the date of the artist’s death. Unlike previous compilations, it does not include biographical documents on royal servants and jesters he painted; instead, the selection is limited strictly to the master himself and his direct circle.

Each of the entries consists of the following information:

The title that heads each document is, in fact, a brief summary of its nature or content. It is preceded by a number that refers to its location in the general corpus. The documents are chronologically ordered, as the exact date is specified at the beginning. Documents whose exact date is unknown are listed at the end of the year in which they were written.

The body of text contains the transcription of the document. The length of each document varies – some extend to several screens – and is specified along with the title. The transcription is intended to facilitate the reading of the document in this new format, but also reflecting the conditions of the original. Whenever it has been possible to access the original, this is compared with the existing modern transcriptions by applying the following criteria in the final version presented here:

• The original spelling is maintained, and only the accents and capitals are modernised.
• Abbreviated words are written in full and punctuation signs are included. Where an abbreviated word has been completed, this is marked in italics.
• Paragraph divisions do not always coincide with those of the original; the purpose of such changes is to make them more legible, in accordance with current writing practices.
• All clarifications or additions that do not appear in the actual documents are put in square brackets.
• In some notarial documents, legal clauses or repetitive formulas are omitted to avoid making the text too long, but respecting the key information. These omissions are indicated by three full stops in square brackets […]

Where access to the original document or a reliable reproduction was not possible, the transcription criteria of the earliest publication are respected.

Complementary references are found beneath the heading. They consist of a maximum of four fields, the number varying according to the document.

Location provides information about the institution that houses the document and, if known, the related accession number. The existence of copies or different versions of the same text is indicated in this field. To reduce its extension, a few common abbreviations are used:

f. / ff.: folio / folios
leg.: legajo (bundle)
p. / pp. : page / pages
prot.: protocol
s.f.: unfoliated
vol.: volume

The bibliography field includes a brief citation providing its location in the bibliographic list available in this help section. It contains both the reference to the earliest publication of the document and successive publications that include modifications or more reliable transcriptions, as well as key observations for its comprehension, such as correction of dates or reinterpretation of paragraphs.

The correspondences section mentions the location of the document in earlier compilations on Velázquez. The abbreviations VV (Varia Velazqueña, published in 1960) and CV (Corpus Velazqueño, published in 2000) appear before the number with which it was previously listed, allowing it to be found in these earlier compilations and also indicating the progress made in research on the artist between the publication of both. This reference is omitted from contributions dating from after 2000.

Lastly, the notes field includes various observations, whether on formal aspects or significant changes provided by the abovementioned bibliography or the scientific editor of this database.