Maker/Artist
Velázquez, Diego
Spanish painter, 1599-1660
Son of Juan Rodríguez da Silva, who came from a Portuguese family that had settled in Andalusia in the early 16th century. Diego had a classical education, but preferred painting; he studied. under Francisco de Herrera the Elder. Velázquez was one of the most important European artists of the 17th century, spending his career from 1623 in the service of Philip IV of Spain.