THE whirligig of Time brings its revenges. In
Philip's reign Velásquez was proud to be ayuda de
guardaropa and then ayuda de cámara; he also was
given a reserved seat at the bullfights and finally
had the honor of membership in the Order of San-
tiago. To-day King, Queen, the Conde-duque,
Infantes and Infantas, even Ambrogio Spinola,
"famoused for fight," are best remembered, with
a rank scarcely higher than the sad-eyed dwarfs
or the merry topers, because of his canvas and
palette.

Diego Velásquez ( 1599-1660) was born in Seville.
He studied under old Pacheco, the painter and
pictorial chronicler, married his master's daughter,
and moved to Madrid in hopes of royal patronage.
There was some hitch. At Pacheco's suggestion he
painted a celebrity, the poet Góngora. In 1623 he
painted his first portrait of the King. That was
the year that the Prince of Wales and the Duke of
Buckingham ("Baby Charles" and "Steenie") came
on a wild project of wooing, to be borne in hand by
the crafty Conde-duque, gloriously fêted, and sent
back empty-handed. In 1628, Peter Paul Rubens,
then the most distinguished painter in Europe,
came for the second time to Spain. His errand was
political: Pacheco says, "He had little to do with

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