The Grand Lake in Buen Retiro

A peacock stands on the zig-zag balustrade in the foreground, and above it a stone Venus. Elisabeth du Gué Trapier noticed in 1963 that this Venus repeats the one in Titian's Offering to Venus, a canvas in the Spanish royal collection that Mazo, as a court painter, knew well. Behind them lies the Grand Lake of the Buen Retiro gardens, the trees around it reflected in the water, a small cubic building of brick and stone with a slate roof, probably a landing stage, and a brown sailing boat waiting near the bank. Closer to us a gentleman holds out his hand to a lady whose face is veiled. The light comes through the trees rather than from an open sky. The Prado dates the picture to around 1657, the year Mazo travelled to Italy.