Paintings between 1621 and 1630

Around 1620 the Spanish court moved from Valladolid to Madrid where Velázquez entered the king's service. Besides his bodegones, of which a fine example is his first real masterpiece, the Waterseller of Seville, it was his mastery of portraiture that the king appreciated.

Velázquez's masterpiece of the 1620s, The Triumph of Bacchus, can be interpreted as a response to the criticism of his rivals at the court that he was a mere portraitist and unable to compete in the lofty sphere of history painting.

Velázquez found new inspiration during his Italian journey in 1629-30. The pictures Velázquez produced in Italy include his two small topographical studies, as well as the large Forge of Vulcan and Joseph's Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob.