If you want to know about any of the great European painters from after the Renaissance, then you should the name of Diego Velazquez. As a great artist of both the Baroque period and the Spanish Golden Age, he has had one of the strongest influences on the future of European art.

Diego Velazquez was born in Seville in 1599. After showing a gift for art at an early age, he apprenticed to the artist Francisco Pacheco, whose daughter Juana he eventually married. In 1622, Velazquez went to Madrid to pursue his talent, and within a year, he had earned enough praise to receive a royal commission as the court painter for King Philip IV. Around 1629, the artist spent two years traveling Italy, earning more fame for his new style of portraits and religious paintings. Upon his return to Spain, Velazquez produced his greatest painting of the royal family, Las Meninas, and was highly commended for it. This commendation later allowed the artist and his works to survive the purge conducted by the Spanish Inquisition. Sadly, little was known about Velazquez and his art outside of Spain until the 1800s, following Napoleon's invasion.

As a Baroque painter, Velazquez employed a style of stark colors and dramatic imagery, even as a portrait artist for Spanish royalty. His skill as a painter allowed him to capture an impressive amount of detail in the face of each portrait, bringing each subject to life--so much so that Philip IV decreed that no one but Velazquez was allowed to paint him upon learning of his talent. His art would also have an influence on another key painter, Edouard Manet, who led the transition from classical Realism to the new field of Impressionism.

By far, one of Velazquez's most famous paintings is Las Meninas (The Ladies-in-Waiting). It is a study of the royal family, featuring Philip IV with his queen and their children in their quarters. Velazquez painted himself into the artwork, as he stands to the side painting the royal couple with the use of a mirror. But in a clever subversion, the real subject of the piece is the young princess Margaret Theresa, accompanied and chided by a pair of ladies-in-waiting. According to French thinker Michel Foucault, the self-portrait of Velazquez and the twist in perspective in Las Meninas represents a turning point away from the classic school of art and toward the beginning of modern art as we know it.

You can see some of Velazquez's greatest paintings at such galleries as the Museo del Prado in Madrid, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Gallery of London.

Image by Cea. on Flickr