Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (June, 1599 – August 6, 1660), commonly referred to as Diego Velázquez, was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary baroque period, important as a portrait artist. His two visits to Italy while part of the Spanish court are well-documented. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he created scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners, culminating in the production of his masterpiece, Las Meninas (1656).
Starting in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Velázquez's artwork proved a model for the realist and impressionist painters, in particular Édouard Manet. Since that time, more modern artists, including Spain's Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, have paid tribute to Velázquez by recreating several of his most famous works.
After leaving Herrera's studio when he was 11 years
old, Velázquez began to serve as an apprentice under the
pedantic Francisco Pacheco, a founded artist and teacher in Seville.
Though considered a generally dull, commonplace painter, at times
Pacheco would express a simple, direct realism that is in contradiction
to the style of Raphael that he was taught. Velázquez remained
in Pacheco's school for five years, studying proportion and perspective
and witnessing the trends in the literary and artistic circles of
Seville.
