Description

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The face of Spain: The undeniable pinnacle of the golden age of Spanish painting Acclaimed for its blending of realism with atmosphere, and for its deeply sensitive appreciation of character, the work of Diego Rodr guez de Silva y Vel zquez (1599-1660) represents the undeniable pinnacle of the golden age of Spanish painting.

Born in Seville but of Portuguese origin, Vel zquez became Court Painter to Philip IV in 1623. A steady worker, using primarily sombre low-toned coloring, he met Rubens in 1628, and soon after made a first trip to Italy. The pictures painted there reveal a growing interest in both color range and in the male nude.

Vel zquez only returned to Italy once again in the late 1640's, where he painted his famous portrait of Pope Innocent X and his only female nude, the "Rokeby Venus". But his greatness lies perhaps in his empathetic studies of such characters as the dwarf playmates of the royal children. The weathering of the skin, rags and mortality, as well as the ageing face of the despondent monarch increasingly preoccupied him in later years. The power, insight and brilliant technique of these paintings were to prove profoundly influential on such later artists as Manet, Delacroix, Picasso and Bacon. About the Series:
Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

• a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
• a concise biography
• approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions

About the Author

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The author:

Norbert Wolf gratuated in art history, linguistics and medieval studies at the universities of Regensburg and Munich, and earned his PhD in 1983. He held visiting professorships in Marburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Dusseldorf, Nuremberg-Erlangen, and Innsbruck. His extensive writings on art history include many TASCHEN titles, such as "Diego Velazquez," "Ernst Ludwig Kirchner," "Caspar David Friedrich," "Expressionism, Romanesque, Landscape Painting" and "Symbolism."