Came from a poor noble family. He studied in Seville with F. Herrera the Elder and F. Pacheco (1611-17), whose daughter Juan Miranda married in 1618. In 1617 he received the title of master. He worked in Seville and Madrid, where he moved in 1623, appointed court artist with the exclusive right to paint portraits of the king. He held various posts at the court of Philip IV, up to the marshal of the court in 1652; his official duties, which took a lot of effort and time, included the organization of all festivities, receptions, decoration of palace chambers, as well as replenishment of royal meetings with works of art. Surpassing contemporary Spanish artists not only with a creative range, but also with the courage and novelty of artistic decisions, Velazquez painted paintings on genre, mythological, historical, religious subjects, portraits, landscapes. A man of high moral nobility, he was called by his contemporaries the "artist of Truth."