Diego Velázquez

1599 – 1660 · died at about 61^[1][2]

Art

Fun Facts About Diego Velázquez

• Diego Velázquez painted his enslaved assistant Juan de Pareja in 1650, reportedly as a warm-up for his portrait of the Pope, and freed him from slavery that November.^[3]
• In Las Meninas, the painter wears the cross of the Order of Santiago, a knighthood Velázquez only received three years after finishing it. It is said the king himself painted the cross on.^[3]
• Velázquez's portrait of Pope Innocent X showed such ruthlessness that some in the Vatican feared the Pope's reaction, but Innocent was pleased and hung it in his visitors' waiting room.^[3]
• Velázquez's Rokeby Venus is the first known female nude by a Spanish artist. His royal appointment shielded him from the censorship of the Inquisition.^[3]
• Velázquez married Juana Pacheco, the daughter of his painting teacher, Francisco Pacheco.^[3]
• In 1957 Pablo Picasso paid homage to Velázquez by recreating Las Meninas in 44 variations.^[3][4][5]
• Diego Velázquez was alive at the same time as Elizabeth I — their lives overlapped for 4 years (1599–1603).^[1][2][6][7]
• Diego Velázquez and Oliver Cromwell were both born in 1599.^[1][2][8][9]

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish Baroque painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He is generally considered one of the greatest artists in the history of Western art.^[1]

Contemporaries

Oliver Cromwell

59 yr overlap

Rembrandt

54 yr overlap

René Descartes

51 yr overlap

Galileo Galilei

43 yr overlap

Peter Paul Rubens

41 yr overlap

Molière

38 yr overlap

Blaise Pascal

37 yr overlap

Johannes Kepler

31 yr overlap

John Locke

28 yr overlap

Johannes Vermeer

28 yr overlap

Christopher Wren

28 yr overlap

Baruch Spinoza

28 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Diego Velázquez

When was Diego Velázquez born?

Diego Velázquez was born in 1599 and died on August 6, 1660.

How old was Diego Velázquez at death?

Diego Velázquez died in 1660 at about 61 years old (1599–1660).

What was Diego Velázquez known for?

Diego Velázquez was known for: Spanish painter of Las Meninas. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish Baroque painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He is generally considered one of the greatest artists in the history of Western art.

Who was alive at the same time as Diego Velázquez?

Diego Velázquez's closest contemporary was Oliver Cromwell. Their lives overlapped for 59 years.