Diego Velázquez

At twenty-four Velázquez became court painter to Philip IV of Spain, and for nearly forty years he painted the royal family while also serving as a senior court official.

Two journeys to Italy introduced him to the loose brushwork of Titian and the Venetians. Up close his strokes are mere dabs of paint; from a step back they become shimmering silk. Manet called him “the painter of painters”.