Great painters are invariably great technicians. In creating the techniques he needed to express his ideas, Velazquez became one of the most original practitioners of the art of painting ever known. In this richly illustrated book, two widely recognised specialists on Velazquez -- one an art historian, the other a conservation scientist -- combine their expertise to show exactly how Spain's most famous painter realised his artistic vision. In a fascinating analysis of thirty works by Velazquez that span his entire career, the authors then examine how the artist devised the techniques to express his ideas and how these changed over time. More than two hundred photographs of details of Velazquez's paintings vividly demonstrate how the artist realised his vision of man and nature through a highly allusive, economical manner of painting. This pathbreaking exploration of Velazquez's technical achievement reveals as never before the miracle of the creative process of one of the world's greatest masters. Book jacket.

Jonathan Brown is Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts at New York University.