Spanish Artists

Experts claim that Spanish artist Diego Rodríguez de Silva Velázquez was probably one of the greatest painters that ever lived. He is considered to have influenced European art more than any other painter and also left behind the largest amount of art work.

Velázquez was born in Seville, to a father of noble Portuguese descent. As an adolescent, his mentor was Francisco Pacheco, who was later to become his father-in-law. He married at the age of 19 and then moved to Madrid, where he was hired by the Court of King Phillip to be the court painter. He was 24 when he painted the monarch's portrait.

Except for a few brief visits to Italy, he stayed in Madrid for the rest of his life as court painter, being eventually promoted to court curator. Most of his works involve portraits of members of the royal court, although he also created paintings of landscapes, religious, mythological and everyday subjects. His dedication to the tasks entrusted to him at the Court wore him down a great deal. As court curator he was responsible for arranging festivities and other ceremonial affairs. He eventually took ill and died of a fever.

A realist painter, Velázquez is often referred to as "the painter of the truth". Some of his many masterpieces, to name a few, include Maria Teresa of Spain ("with two watches") , The Dwarf Sebastian de Morra and Los Borrachos (The Feast of Bacchus).