Chapter 1, In Which I Learn My Letters Summary

I, Juan de Pareja is the story of a slave of African ancestry in Spain during the first half of the seventeenth century. Juan de Pareja is born to a slave, a black seamstress. At the age of five, he becomes a pageboy to a wealthy Madrid woman when his mother dies. His mistress is kind and teaches him to read and write. After his owner's death from plague, the kindly monk Brother Isidro cares for Juan. Bequeathed to the famous painter Diego Velbzquez, Juan is taken to Madrid by a cruel gypsy named Carmelo, who beats the boy and starves him. In Madrid, Juan becomes a valued part of the Velbzquez household. He begins to paint secretly, knowing that it is illegal for slaves to practice any of the arts...