Tag: Diego Velazquez

An Elite Friendship: Diego Velázquez and Peter Paul Rubens

In 1629, Diego Velázquez left Spain for his first visit to Italy. Although one of his country’s leading artists and court painter to King Philip IV, this was still an opportunity not to be missed. At the Spanish court, Velázquez had access to Philip’s impressive art collection, but he had not seen examples of work…


A Charming Gift for His King: ‘Las Meninas’

A child’s soft giggle echoes down the palace hall. Heavy skirts rustle. A lady-in-waiting enters and holds the door of the Cuarto del Principe (“Prince’s Room”) in the Alcázar Palace in Madrid, Spain. In comes a 5-year-old child, royal to be sure, to the spacious studio of the court’s chief painter, the eminent Diego Velázquez…