Velazquez

In return for immortalising the grotesquely in-bred court of the rapidly declining Spanish Hapsburgs, Philip IV admitted Diego Velazquez (1599-1660) to the ranks of the nobility at a time when artists were considered no better than carpenters. Didier Baussy-Oulianoff's resplendent portrait focuses on this special relationship between an artist and a king, and benefits from exclusive access to a major Velazquez exhibition mounted at the Prado in Madrid. The artist's character is revealed through his work.