Diego Velázquez

El espejo de Venus ( Toilet of Venus ) Oil on Canvas, 1644 - 1648 122,5 x 177 cm National Gallery, London, England La Fragua de Vulcano ( Vulcan's Forgue ) Oil on Canvas, 1630 233 x 290 cm Museo El Prado, Madrid, Spain Vieja friendo huevos ( Old woman frying egss ) Oil on Canvas, 1618 105 x 119 cm National Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland El triunfo de Baco o Los Borrachos The triumph of Baccus, or The drunkards ) Oil on Canvas, 1628 - 29 165 x 225 cm Museo El Prado, Madrid, Spain The Family of Felipe IV or simply, Las Meninas Oil on Canvas, 1656 318 x 276 cm Museo El Prado, Madrid, Spain Las Hilanderas ( The Fable of Aracne ) Oil on Canvas, 1657 220 x 289 cm Museo El Prado, Madrid, Spain Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (June 6, 1599 – August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period. Until the nineteenth century, little was known outside of Spain of Velázquez's work. Velázquez is often cited as a key influence on the art of Édouard Manet, important when considering that Manet is often cited as the bridge between realism and impressionism. Calling Velázquez the "painter of painters," Manet admired Velázquez's use of vivid brushwork in the midst of the baroque academic style of his contemporaries and built upon Velázquez's motifs in his own art. The importance of Velázquez's art even today is evident in considering the respect with which twentieth century painters regard his work, as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí,Fancis bacon... Fine Arts in Spain