Madrid, 1622. A twenty-three-year-old painter is summoned to the palace. He sets up his easel and begins to paint what he sees.
From his arrival at the court of King Philip IV of Spain to his death thirty-eight years and scores of paintings later, Diego Velázquez had an unparalleled view of place life. Through his eyes, we see the king, the court, the intrigue, the power struggles, the private griefs, and the almost-friendship between the king and his painter. 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.