Painter to the King (Relié)

?From his arrival at the court of King Philip IV of Spain to his death 38 years and scores of paintings later, Diego Velázquez had an unparalleled view of palace life. Through his eyes, we see the king, always on duty, and increasingly burdened by a life of public expectation and repeated private grief. We see the court, slowly collapsing under the weight of its own excess. And we see an intimate relationship that is not quite a friendship, between a king and his subject, between an artist and his subject.
From a prizewinning young British writer, this is a novel of brilliance, imagination and sheer style — about what is shown and what is seen, about art and death and life.