Velazquez in Paris

Diego de Velazquez, the greatest of court painters, ironically was an unlikely candidate for that job. The prototypical court painter was a conceptual artist who could present detailed sketches of his paintings in advance for a patron's approval, execute his works in a timely fashion, and flatter his sitters. In contrast, Velazquez was a fundamentally experimental painter who could not preview his works with preparatory drawings, nor finish his paintings on schedule, and was too committed to vis...