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Born Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez in 1599; his baptism was on June 6, 1599. He was born in Seville, Spain. His father had noble Portugal blood in him. He started his artistic career by first being tutored by Herrera"El Viejo"(meaning "the elder"). In 1610, he was apprenticed under Francisco Pacheco. He passed the artist's guide exam in 1617. Two years later, at the age of 19, he was married to Juana Pacheco, which was the daughter of Francisco Pacheco (former teacher of Velazquez and now admirer). She surrounded Diego with men of knowledge, status, and ideas, and soon his studio became a place of growing literary and philosophical discussions. After his marriage he moved to Madrid, Spain. His painting was largely influenced by the dark paintings showing inclination to have more natural themes. Velazquez usually had a sinister and obscure style much like that of Caravaggio. In 1622, Diego went with his disciple and servant Diego Mendrado to see El Escorial where he met the writer Luis de Gongora, of which he paints a portrait. In 1623, Velazquez again went to Madrid, but this time to paint a painting of the Royal Family. During this trip, he painted portraits for Fonseca and Philip IV. After the finishing of Philip's portrait, Philip IV declared Velazquez the Royal Chamber artist (court painter) and became Diego's patron. While in the court, he studied many masterpieces from the king's collection. In 1628, he guided Rubens through the king's collection. Rubens influenced Velazquez to begin to paint mythological scenes. In 1629, Velazquez traveled to Venice and Rome, Italy to copy masterpieces. By 1643, Velazquez was moved to an administrative position, due to the fall of Count-Duke of Olivares. This created a high point of his work. In 1649, Diego returned to Italy to buy paintings by Titian, Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese, and to purchase paintings to expand the king's collection. He also gave up his gloomy tendacies after this visit and the knowledge of the rich chromatism of the Venetian school. From 1656 to 1658, he painted some of his most famous paintings: "Venus of the Mirror", "The Meninas", and "Las Hilanderas". In 1660, he painted the wedding of Infanta Maria Theresa to Louis XIV of France. He contracted a fever from his labors of this event and died on August 6, 1660.