スペインのセビーリャに生まれ、画家パチェーコに学んで、その娘と結婚しました。24歳でマドリードに呼ばれ、国王フェリペ4世の宮廷画家になり、一生仕えます。近くで見ると荒い筆あとなのに、離れると本物そっくりに見える描き方で、王族や宮廷の人々を描きました。代表作「ラス・メニーナス」（1656年）は、絵画史上もっとも謎めいた絵のひとつです。
Velázquez was born in Seville, Spain. He studied with the painter Pacheco and married his daughter. At 24, he was called to Madrid and became court painter to King Philip IV, serving him all his life. Up close his brushstrokes look rough, but from a distance they look completely real. He painted the royal family and the people of the court. His Las Meninas (1656) is one of the most mysterious paintings in art history.
