ART 235: Pre-Modern Art History

In this stimulating book, a leading authority on the Spanish master Diego Velazquez discusses this enigmatic artist and explores the mysteries presented by his paintings. The essays collected here, written over the course of Jonathan Brown's distinguished career, include some which are published in English for the first time and one which has never before been published. Two themes unite them. The first concerns the changing relationship between Velazquez and his patron Philip IV, which provides a framework for Brown to interpret the painter's career. The second theme is the problem of attributions and the related issue of Velazquez's innovative technique. Since Velazquez was not a prolific painter, questions of authenticity become increasingly contentious.

This generously illustrated volume on the work of Diego Velazquez makes the world's greatest art accessible to readers of every level of appreciation. A 17th-century Spanish painter who continues to influence artists today, Velazquez is primarily known for his portraits of Spanish royalty and other notable figures. Overflowing with impeccably reproduced images, this book offers full-page spreads of masterpieces as well as highlights of smaller details - allowing the viewer to appreciate every aspect of the artist's technique and oeuvre. 80 colour illustrations

The Cambridge Companion to Velázquez, first published in 2002, offers a synthetic overview of one of the greatest painters of Golden Age Spain and seventeenth century Europe as a whole. With contributions from art historians and those working in other disciplines, this book offers fresh approaches to the vast literature on this artist. Velázquez's portraits of his patron, King Philip IV, and his wives are examined by two historians in an effort to reconstruct their reception and readings by contemporaries. Two historians of Golden Age Spanish literature provide an interdisciplinary account of the relationships between poetry, theater, and the visual arts at the Spanish court, as practiced by Velázquez, the poet Francisco de Quevedo and the dramatist, Calderón de la Barca. An expert on the history of Spanish music offers an unprecedented examination of how instruments 'play' in Velázquez's compositions.