Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter considered to have been the country's greatest baroque artist. He, with Francisco de Goya and El Greco, forms the great triumvirate of Spanish painting. Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez—or plain Diego Velazquez!—was the leading Spanish artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain in the 1600s.

An artist of astonishing technique and confidence, many art critics say he is unsurpassed as a portrait artist. His great fame came long after his death, starting in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, when he was used as a model for Realist and Impressionist artists, such as Manet.

This influence continued to later artists ... for example Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Many critics claim a sense of modernness of impression, of direct contact with nature, and a vital force pervades all of Velazquez´s work, be it landscape or portraiture. In fact, one of the most consummate of painters—John Ruskin—stated "everything Velazquez does may be taken as absolutely right by the student".

A realist, diego velazquez painted only what he saw. His men and women seem to breathe, his horses are full of action, and his dogs full of life.England was the first nation to recognize his extraordinary merit and, outside Spain, owns the largest share of his works. Meanwhile, the Prado Museum in Madrid houses over 60 of his works.