Velazquez accompanied the king on many expeditions and the latter seems to have been very fond of his company. It is known that he went with him to Arag6n on two separate occasions and that he there painted several pic tures of the sovereign and members of his fam ily (1642 and 1644). Naturally he was °pro moted° from time to time. He had begun as gentleman usher with a daily and additional yearly allowance from the Crown. By 1648 he was in receipt of a yearly pension of 700 ducats as court painter and an additional allowance as inspector of the art in the palace. The follow ing year he went to Italy, commissioned by the Spanish king to purchase works of art, espe cially statuary, with which to decorate an Acad emy of Art in Spain which Philip intended to found. He fulfilled his mission well and painted several Italian notables at the same time. His journey included Genoa, Milan, Venice, Modena and Rome. In the latter city Pope Innocent presented him with a medal and a golden chain and showed him other marked fa vors, sitting to him for his portrait. Into this latter work Velazquez threw his whole energy, with the result that it remains to-day one of his greatest pictures. By some artists it has been classed as the best executed portrait in the Doria Palace, Rome, where it now is. Velaz quez painted several other pictures of this not able prelate. In Rome he was elected a mem ber of the famous Academy of Saint Luke. From Rome he went to Naples and from there back to Spain, carrying with him a most notable collection of pictures and fine statuary, the lat ter alone numbering over 300 pieces. About 1645 Velazquez was appointed eAposentador Mayor," a sort of general court inspector, then looked upon as a high office,, the reception of which betokened for the recipient the special favor of the Spanish sovereign since the posi tion was one of great trust and considerable re sponsibility. In 1659 the king bestowed upon him the Cross of Santiago (Saint James), a very high honor and notable distinction, making him a "belted knight" of Spain. The following year Velazquez was commissioned by the king to decorate the Spanish pavilion and to arrange all the ceremonies for the marriage, by proxy, of Philip's sister, the Infanta Maria Teresa to Louis XIV of France. The pavilion for the occasion was erected on the low-lying, swampy island of Pheasants, in the river Bidassoa. The extra exertion, for a man of his age, or the emanations from the swampy island, or both, brought on a fever from which he died. Ve lazquez had many pupils and imitators, and some of them approached his style of painting very closely. Among the best known of the former were Jose Leonardo, Carrefto de Mi randa, Juan Bautista de Maza (his son-in-law), and Pareja (his slave, whom he liberated). Himself the greatest Spanish painter, and one of the world's greatest artistic geniuses, he in spired his pupils to good work. The fact that
some of them, like Leonardo and Maza, ap proached his own almost perfect style, is a high tribute to his talent as a teacher.
As Velazquez did not sign the greater num ber of his portraits it is difficult to distinguish his work at times from that of his pupils and imitators, and much of his surviving work must be recognized by the style and mannerisms of the author. The greatest of his pupils, Murillo, whom he kept in his house for three years, cre ated a new style of painting and surpassed his master in the brilliancy of his coloring. Velaz quez's work displays a very close study of na ture, boldness and sureness of touch, effective management of the brush, extremely accurate drawing and good coloring, dramatic force, in short, masterly execution, great originality and power. His industry and his facility for rapid and certain work were immense. Forty por traits of King Philip are credited to him in addition to many others of various members of the royal family and notables of the court, buf foons, dwarfs and other entertainers of the sov ereign and his favorites. But though his royal pension and his position at court made him essentially a portrait painter, just as Murillo's connection with the Church made him a depic tor of saints and Biblical subjects, yet Velazquez produced notable historical works, the greatest of which is (The Surrender of Breda' (
For a detailed list of his paintings consult any work on the Spanish painters.
Bibliography.— Aman Jean, (Velazquez' (Paris 1913) Armstrong, W., (The Art of Velazquez) (Portfolio Artistic Monographs, Nos. 28 and 29, New York 1896); (Masters in Art' (Boston 1900, Vol. I) ; Bermudez, cionario) (Madrid 1800) ; Beruete, A. de, 'Ve lazquez) (1906) ; Calvert and Gallichan, (Velaz quez) (New York 1908) ; Davies, R., 'Velaz quez) (London 1914) ••Gensel, W., (Velazquez) (in Klassiker der Kunst, Vol. I, Stuttgart 1905) ; Hind, C. L., (Days with Velazquez) (New York 1906) ; Justi, C., (Velazquez and seen Jahrhundert) (2 vols., Bonn 1888; English trans., London 1889) ; Knackfuss, H., (Velaz quez) (Bielefeld 1905) ; La Farge, John, (Ve lazquez' (in (Great Masters,' New York 1903) ; Muther, R., (Velazquez (in Die Kunst, Vol. XXIII, Stuttgart 1905) ; Pacheco, (Arte de la pintura) (Seville 1649); Palormino, (Muse() pictetrico) (Madrid 1724; English trans. 1729); Stevenson, R. A. M., (Velazquez) (in (Great Masters in Painting and Sculpture,' London 1902); Stokes, H., (Velazquez and His Works) (London 1902).