Diego Velazquez 'Las Meninas, detail of the lower half depicting the family of Philip IV of Spain' gallery-wrapped canvas is a high-quality canvas print in the artist's style, depicting Velazquez painting the royal court, most notably Margaret Theresa. An evocative and magnificent addition to your home or office. Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velasquez was born in Seville, Spain, presumably shortly before his baptism on June 6, 1599. His father was of noble Portuguese descent. In his teens he studied art with Francisco Pacheco, whose daughter he married. The young Velasquez once declared, "I would rather be the first painter of common things than second in higher art." He learned much from studying nature. After his marriage at the age of 19, Velasquez went to Madrid. When he was 24 he painted a portrait of Philip IV, who became his patron. Velasquez was called the "noblest and most commanding man among the artists of his country." He was a master realist and no painter has surpassed him in the ability to seize essential features and fix them on canvas with a few broad, sure strokes. "His men and women seem to breathe," it has been said; "his horses are full of action and his dogs of life." Because of Velasquez' great skill in merging color, light, space, rhythm of line and mass in such a way that all have equal value, he was known as "the painter's painter." Ever since he taught Bartolome Murillo, Velasquez has directly or indirectly led painters to make original contributions to the development of art. Others who have been noticeably influenced by him are Francisco de Goya, Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Edouard Manet and James McNeill Whistler. His famous paintings include The Surrender of Breda, an equestrian portrait of Philip IV, The Spinners, The Maids of Honor, Pope Innocent X, Christ at Emmaus and a portrait of the Infanta Maria Theresa.