PAINTER TO THE KING by Amy Sackville (Granta Books, £14.99)

THIS biography of Diego Velasquez, court painter to the Spanish Court in the 17th century, is an account of three relationships; the author, the painter, and the reader who at times observes the subjects Velasquez paints whether it is the King or a fried egg.

But the author does more than that and, through her skill of language, makes the reader also become the strokes of paint with which the artist creates his masterpieces.

Velasquez entered the court of Philip IV in 1622 and made himself indispensable in a court that was a victim of its own excess.

The king envied the freedom of the painter, often just watching the images emerge from Velasquez’s canvases, but kings always carried the burden of producing an heir and when that didn’t happen Philip had to be kept happy with new lavish and suffocating projects.

Velasquez observed everything and everyone who was called to court, all with his unique judgement through paint.

This is a startling and creative biography of the painter that is known as ‘the artists’ artist’, but I would advise the reader to have some coloured reproductions of Velasquez’s works close by as you immerse yourself in the darkness of Spanish identity.

It is a book you will not forget.