For the first time in Britain, a major exhibition traces the career of one of the very greatest painters - Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660).
From his beginnings in Seville, 'Velázquez' follows the artist's move to Madrid and appointment as court painter to Philip IV, his two trips to Italy, to his final days and his knighthood.
Throughout his life, Velázquez demonstrated a precocious ability to observe and record reality. He achieved ever greater physical and psychological naturalism using increasingly pronounced and elegant brushstrokes.
Velázquez ultimately realised miraculous effects of illusion with an astounding, abbreviated technique that was to inspire future realists as well as the Impressionists.
Drawing on the National Gallery's own rich holdings and major loans from the Museo del Prado and other collections, this exhibition includes almost half of the world's surviving works by Velázquez. It demonstrates the artist's extraordinary development through great examples of his religious and mythological paintings, alongside his portraits.
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