Velazquez, true or false?

No such person.

The persona known as 'Velazquez' was invented in the 1500s as a kind of camp-fire tale - a "been everywhere, painted everything" Artist's bogeyman.

In the ensuing years the legend grew; people claim to have seen the so-called Velazquez, met him, even to have been painted by him - until things spun out of control and exceeded the limits of rational credibility.

As a result, there are literally hundreds of portraits and scenes of historical significance attributed to his hand. Most of us outgrew him along with Sasquatch and the Tooth Fairy. Anyone who honestly believes that one man could be that good and have painted that many extraordinary paintings should come see me. I have some magic beans I want to sell you.

In the meantime, here are some details of one of (ahem) Velazquez' paintings called The Vulcan Forge, from the book 'Velazquez: The Technique of Genius', by Jonathan Brown and Carmen Garrido. Click on each one to enlarge and get a sense of that brushwork.