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Diego Velázquez was a Spanish artist during the contemporary baroque period that became famous for his work in the court of King Philip IV and the portraits he created. His work inspired the following generations of impressionist and realist artists. His most famous pieces include La Rendición de Breda (The Surrender of Breda), Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor) and La Venus del Espejo (Rokeby Venus).

1. Velázquez was born in Sevilla on June 6th 1599 in a family belonging to the minor aristocracy. At the age of 12, he started an apprenticeship which lasted 5 years and taught him to depict perspective and proportion accurately.
2. After he drew a head sketch of Philip IV on August 16th 1623, the ruler liked his work so much that he refused to be painted by any other artist and insisted on Velázquez moving to Madrid. He also had all his portraits painted by other artists withdrawn from distribution. Unfortunately, this very piece of art is now lost.
3. In 1627, Velázquez won a competition organized by the king where the topic was the expulsion of the Moors. The work illustrated Philip III pointing to a group of people escorted by soldiers. Velázquez’s award was his appointment as gentleman usher. Nevertheless, this work was destroyed in 1734 during a fire in the royal palace.
4. Diego Velázquez’s first visit to Italy in 1629 was poorly documented and it is unclear which Italian painters he met, which works of art he saw and how his work was accepted among the highest circles in the art hierarchy. Despite this, critics say that the time he spent in Italy was crucial since it influenced the techniques used in his later works.
5. One of Velázquez’s portraits of the king was used by sculptor Juan Martinez Montanez to model a statue which was later on bronzed. It is now displayed in Plaza del Oriente in Madrid.
6. Velázquez was known for his respectful and caring depictions of the court’s dwarfs and buffoons. For example, in El Primo (The Favorite) he depicts a dwarf in an unusual light, namely, sitting in a composed and intellectual manner next to a book. Juan de Pareja shows Velázquez’s servant and is one the most popular portraits of the painter. Nowadays it is exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
7. Las Meninas is probably the artist’s magnum opus. The many speculations around the work are actually contributing to its popularity. For example, it is unclear who the subject of the painting is. The painter himself can be observed on the work and so can the King and the Queen. Some argue that the image of the King and the Queen is seen as a reflection in a mirror. Other say that Velázquez  purposefully merged the portrait of the royal couple in the background as a prediction that there are troubling times ahead for the monarchy.
8. During Velázquez’s life, there were two patrons of art: the royal family and the church. Since he had the former behind his back, he was capable to create La Venus del Espejo without being censored by the Inquisition.
9. Both Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso paid tribute to Velázquez. Picasso recreated Las Meninas in stunning 58 variations which attracted a lot of praise. Dalí painted Velázquez Painting the Infanta Margarita With the Lights and Shadows of His Own Glory.
10. Velázquez developed fever at the end of July 1660 and died on August 6th at the age of 61. The church where he was buried was later destroyed so the location of his grave is now unknown.