Juan de Pareja: Life and Legacy Early Life and Enslavement Born in Antequera, Spain, around 1610, Juan de Pareja began life under the constraints of slavery. His mother was an enslaved African-descended woman, and his father a Spanish man. He was identified as a “morisco,” a term referring to individuals of mixed heritage – in his case, likely both African and Spanish ancestry. Pareja entered the household of Diego Velázquez, one of Spain’s most celebrated painters, becoming an assistant within his workshop around 1631. Assistant to Velázquez For nearly two decades, Pareja served…