14:13 Feb 11 

Yes, what more can be said? I do agree with Charles and Jenni. I thank you for your kindness and proficiency! I will report our conversation on the Italian channel!
Thanks again!

14:06 Feb 11 

That was brilliant, Charles. You nailed it.

14:02 Feb 11 

It is quite obvious that this writer doesn’t seriously think Velázquez and company were hacks in the modern sense, the usual sense. But they were hacks in the sense of working to order for money. The point is that while fulfilling commissions as hirelings (good word, Jenni), painting what was required rather than what they had chosen to paint, they produced masterpieces.

It has been remarked that “brilliant hacks” is an oxymoron, and it is, because in our world only the mediocre work as hacks; the brilliant do what they choose. But in that world, even Velázquez had to work to order; he was in the old and basic sense, a hack, a hireling. So the writer is using a deliberately challenging and therefore stimulating expression, knowing that our first reaction to “hack” is that this is the very last thing Velázquez should be called, but at the same time forcing us to acknowledge that that was in fact what he was, and thereby making an important point about the position of the artist in that period.

It is for Italian native speakers to judge whether a similar effect could be captured with “prezzolati”, but it seems to me that it might. “Salariati” would miss this point completely.

14:01 Feb 11 

I think "prezzolati" would be the nearest equivalent. I find the following definition of this word very interesting:
"Assoldato, compensato con denaro per le sue prestazioni; oggi soltanto con connotazione negativa, comportante un giudizio di forte biasimo: agenti, sicarî p.; scrittori, intellettuali p., pagati o comunque compensati per orientare l’opinione pubblica in una direzione piuttosto che in un’altra; estens.: cogliere un uomo all’impensata e farlo bastonare da mano p. gli pareva un’azione vilissima (Rovani). In origine, e nell’uso letter., con accezione più generica e senza biasimo, di persona che offre un servizio dietro compenso di denaro [...]"
http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/prezzolato/

To my mind, this corresponds very closely to the use of "hack" here. Nowadays it is inevitably pejorative; it implies mediocrity and lack of artistic or even moral integrity, and this idea of prostituting one's services was already present in the eighteenth century; but the basic meaning is writing (and by extension painting) for hire, for money, producing whatever you're told to.

13:40 Feb 11 

Mercenari is definitely too strong, even more than prezzolati. Salariati however could do the trick, and I think that its dullness - which Jenni rightly underlines - could serve you just well in this context.

13:35 Feb 11 

Your commentary made me think of another word that might very well work: hireling. Please see http://en.dicios.com/iten/prezzolati. yes, I do think that mercenari would be too strong and salariati (salaried employee) is probably too dull.

13:29 Feb 11 

For Spaniards at that time these painters were merely craftsmen, not artists. In the En>IT discussion, we thought "prezzolati" could be the world, as in "geniali pittori prezzolati"; or "brillanti pittori salariati", although "salariati" does not always have a negative connotation, whereas "prezzolati" does. Do you thing this would be the case?
Otherwise we though about "mercenari" but to me it sounds too strong.

12:57 Feb 11 

I do not have this feeling but it is rather peculiar here. To me it sounds akin to "meagre". So there is some contrast in this example of usage. Like "pretty ugly", for instance.

12:56 Feb 11 

It would be interesting to know how they were called in Spanish. Hack is definitely negative in meaning, but maybe the key for translating it right is all in the contrast with the adjective brilliant. You could as well translate it into Italian as brillanti (geniali) imbrattatele, thus keeping the oxymoron as in the original text. Otherwise, you could dare something along the lines of brillanti impiegati della pittura or, even, brillanti travet della pittura, as I've found here http://sabspace.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/presentazione.pd...

12:29 Feb 11 

So you mean that hack is definitly negative in meaning?

12:23 Feb 11 

brilliant hack - does not sound natural as "hack" is a small sum of money earned by a second rank artist