Profile
Diego Velázquez: Master of the Spanish Golden Age
Court painter to Philip IV of Spain, born in Seville in 1599
Diego Velázquez was baptised in Seville on 6 June 1599 and trained as a teenager in the studio of the painter Francisco Pacheco, whose daughter he later married. His early works include lively kitchen scenes painted with striking realism.
In 1623 he became painter to King Philip IV in Madrid, beginning a career at court that lasted the rest of his life. Two trips to Italy brought him into contact with the great Renaissance masters and led to his famous portrait of Pope Innocent X.
His most celebrated painting, Las Meninas (1656), shows the young princess Margaret Theresa with her attendants, while the artist himself stands at his easel. Today it is one of the treasures of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
Career highlights
- 1599Baptised in Seville: on 6 June
- 1611Apprenticeship: with Francisco Pacheco
- 1618The Water Seller of Seville: early masterpiece of realism
- 1623Court painter: to King Philip IV in Madrid
- 1629First trip to Italy: studies Titian, Raphael and others
- 1650Portrait of Pope Innocent X: painted in Rome
- 1656Las Meninas: his most famous painting
- 1660Dies in Madrid: after organising a royal wedding ceremony
Did you know?Near the end of his life he was made a knight of the Order of Santiago, and the red cross of the order was later painted onto his own image in Las Meninas.
