As with so much of Burns’ work, the title boldly, audaciously proclaims the vitality of the European tradition. The allusion to Velazquez in the theme is not to be seen as a challenge to the Spanish master, but rather as a catalyst to a redefining of the subject in contemporary terms.

Vulcan was the deification of metallurgy, a god apart from the Olympian deities - an outsider who works and sweats, who is not socially acceptable but whose professional skills are admired and desired. Here the myth is brought down to earth : gone is the traditional reference made by Velazquez to Apollo informing Vulcan of his wife’s infidelity. No divine aura surrounds the figure of Vulcan supporting his hammer on his shoulder : the intense light bathing these two figures is the reflected glow of the furnace.

His assistant -traditionally one of the Cyclopes - has a look of wonder, almost of apprehension or uncertainty, which counterbalances the serenity of the blacksmith. The only hint of this blacksmith’s divinity is the confident imperturbability of his pose : the proper use of fire and anvil is his domain. Is this an allegory of the artist’s creativity - part divine, part rooted in craft ?