委拉斯开兹(1599～1660年)
Velázquez, Diego (Rodríguez de Silva)
西班牙画家。生於塞维尔，他随老埃雷拉当学徒，後来由帕切科施以自然主义风格训练。他的早期作品大多是宗教或风俗体裁。1623年抵达马德里後，他绘制了腓力四世的肖像，这使其获得立即的成功，并奉派为宫廷画家。其地位使他得以接近皇室收藏，其中包括提香的作品，後来对其风格产生了极大的影响。义大利之旅（1629～1631）使其风格更进一步，回到马德里即开始他最具创造力的时期。他为腓力的狩猎小屋创造出一种新的非正式肖像类型，而委拉斯开兹的宫廷侏儒肖像展现了与皇室人物一样的洞察眼神。第二次拜访罗马时（1649～1651），他绘制了优秀的教宗英诺森十世肖像。晚年他创造出杰作《光荣的少女》（1656）。在这偶然的场景中，显然艺术家在玛格利塔公主及其随从在场的情况下为国王和王后作画；接近实物大小的人物创造出一种真实世界的幻觉，这是当代没有其他艺术家能够超越的。其被认为是西方艺术的巨人之一。
English version：
1599～1660年
Velázquez, Diego (Rodríguez de Silva)
Spanish painter. Born in Sevilla (Seville), he was apprenticed to Francisco Herrera the Elder before being trained in the naturalistic style by Francisco Pacheco. His early works were mostly religious or genre scenes. After arriving in Madrid in 1623, he painted a portrait of Philip IV that won him immediate success and an appointment as court painter. His position gave him access to the royal collections, including works by Titian, the greatest influence on his style. A visit to Italy (1629-31) further developed his style, and on his return to Madrid he entered his most productive period. Velázquez created a new type of informal royal portrait for Philip's hunting lodge, and his portraits of court dwarfs display the same discerning eye as those of his royal subjects. On a second visit to Rome (1649-51) he painted his fine portrait of Pope Innocent X. In his last years he created his masterpiece, [painting]Las Meninas ([painting]The Maids of Honor, 1656). In this casual scene, the artist is shown painting the king and queen in the presence of the infanta Margarita and her attendants; the nearly life-size figures create an illusion of reality unsurpassed by any other artist of his age. He is universally acknowledged as one of the giants of Western art.