Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez (1599-1660) was born in Seville, Spain, the oldest of six children. He has come to be recognised as one of the very greatest painters, with an extraordinary ability to observe and record visual experience, whether rendering genre paintings, history scenes or portraits. Velazquez's career can be characterised as a lifelong examination of the relationship of painting to nature, in which brushwork takes a leading role. As he developed, he realised ever-greater physical and psychological naturalism with progressively more pronounced and elegant brushstrokes, attaining miraculous effects of illusion with an astounding, abbreviated technique based on the implication rather than the elaboration of detail. This book explores Velazquez's almost universal popularity. Accompanying a major exhibition at the National Gallery, London, it contextualises the artist's work and discusses his influence. Manet famously called him 'the painter's painter', and this book seeks to explain how, and why, his minimalist, elegant compositions resonate so strongly with our Post-Impressionist sensibilities. Written by world-class Velazquez scholars, the book surveys the artist's entire career, from his studies in Seville and Italy to his final great works at the court of Philip IV. It includes a full catalogue and chronology.
