Sold at Auction: Diego (1599) Velázquez

(b Seville, 1599; d Madrid, 1660) Spanish Painter. Diego Valasquez was the greatest painter of Philip IV’s court, a master portraitist and brilliant example of the Baroque style. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was born to a family of minor nobility in Seville. As his artistic talent became apparent, he was apprenticed first to Herrera the elder and then to Francisco Pacheco. In 1622 he traveled to Madrid on commission, and there, in 1622, he was given the opportunity to sketch the likeness of King Philip IV of Spain. The king was impressed and Valazquez was appointed his official court painter. Valazquez traveled to Italy in 1629 to study the works of the great Italian masters; Titian especially impressed and inspired him. Once back in Spain, Velazquez continued to complete portraits of the Spanish Royalty and to rise up the ranks of the Spanish court; acquiring new titles and responsibilities. It was relatively late into his career, in 1656 that he created his masterpiece Las Meninas. Velazquez’s work had a profound impact on many other artists and his influence can be seen even in the modern works of Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon and Salvador Dali.