Acclaimed for its blending of realism with atmosphere, and for its deeply sensitive appreciation of character, the work of Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez (1599-1660) represents the undeniable pinnacle of the golden age of Spanish painting. This title features a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work.

"Explores the early works of seventeenth-century Spanish painter Diego Velâazquez. Focuses on works from 1617 to 1623, examining the painter's critical engagement with the artistic, religious, and social practices of his native Seville"--Provided by publisher.

In 1845, a Reading bookseller named John Snare came across the dirt-blackened portrait of a prince at a country house auction. Suspecting that it might be a long-lost Velazquez, he bought the picture and set out to discover its strange history. When Laura Cumming stumbled on a startling trial involving John Snare, it sent her on a search of her own. At first she was pursuing the picture, and the life and work of the elusive painter, but then she found herself following the bookseller's fortunes too - from London to Edinburgh to nineteenth-century New York, from fame to ruin and exile. An innovative fusion of detection and biography, this book shows how and why great works of art can affect us, even to the point of mania. And on the trail of John Snare, Cumming makes a surprising discovery of her own. But most movingly, The Vanishing Man is an eloquent and passionate homage to the Spanish master Velazquez, bringing us closer to the creation and appreciation of his works than ever before

Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) est l'un des peintres les plus célèbres au monde. Caractéristique de la peinture européenne du XVIIe siècle, il travaille pour la cour et les grands de son époque, signant de nombreux portraits. Mais, passionné par la figure humaine, son Œuvre comprend également des bodegones, ces représentations de la vie quotidienne dans les tavernes et les cuisines. Considéré comme le père de la peinture espagnole, il inspire des générations entières d'artistes à sa suite comme Picasso, Dalí ou Bacon. Son mystérieux tableau Les Ménines, qui renferme l'essence de son travail, est aujourd'hui encoreune source intarissable d'écrits et de recherches

"Published in conjunction with the exhibition El joven Velazquez: 'La educacion de la virgen' de Yale restaurada, organized by the mayor of the city of Seville and the Yale University Art Gallery."

Diego Velázquez, considered by many to be the greatest of Spain's great painters, spent his crucial formative years in Seville, learning his craft and producing many early masterpieces. When he departed from his native city as a young man of 24, Velázquez's accomplishments were already impressive - he left to assume the position of Court Painter to Philip IV of Spain in Madrid. In this illustrated book, an international team of art scholars explores the importance of Seville for Velázquez. Discussions range across many topics, including Velázquez's education and training, Sevillian culture and Catholic theology, picaresque literature, and Velázquez's subject matter - portraiture, sacred subjects, and the bodegones in which Velázquez developed his distinctive naturalistic style. This book serves as the catalogue for a major exhibition on Velázquez's early work to be held at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, August 8 through October 20, 1996. The exhibit also includes a selection of influential works by Velázquez's important contemporaries, such as the sculptor Montañes and painters Alonso Cano and Ribalta.

On life and works of Velazquez.

"A large and sumptuous tribute to the 17th century Spanish court portraitist who must have captured the most imposing collection of Hapsburg noses and jaws ever depicted by one mortal. The detailed, scholarly, entertaining text follows the development of Velazquez' artistry from the early genre works to the final amazing studies in texture and spatial relationships."--Kirkus Review.