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.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	The Waterseller of Seville 1623 Oil on canvas, 106,7 x 81 cm Wellington Museum, Apsley House, London
	The Waterseller of Seville (detail) 1623 Oil on canvas Wellington Museum, Apsley House, London
	A Young Man (detail) 1623-24 Oil on canvas, 56 x 38 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Philip IV 1624-27 Oil on canvas, 210 x 102 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Infante Don Carlos 1626-27 Oil on canvas, 209 x 125 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Head of a Stag 1626-27 Oil on canvas, 66,5 x 52,5 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Philip IV in Armour c. 1628 Oil on canvas, 58 x 44,5 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Democritus 1628-29 Oil on canvas, 101 x 81 cm Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Céramique, Rouen
	Young Man c. 1629 Oil on canvas, 89 x 69 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich
	The Triumph of Bacchus (Los Borrachos, The Topers) c. 1629 Oil on canvas, 165 x 225 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	The Forge of Vulcan 1630 Oil on canvas, 223 x 290 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Study for the head of Apollo 1630 Oil on canvas, 36,3 x 25,2 cm Private collection
	Joseph's Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob 1630 Oil on canvas, 223 x 250 cm Monasterio de San Lorenzo, El Escorial
	Joseph's Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob (detail) 1630 Oil on canvas Monasterio de San Lorenzo, El Escorial
	Infanta Doña María, Queen of Hungary 1630 Oil on canvas, 60 x 46 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Villa Medici, Grotto-Loggia Façade 1630 Oil on canvas, 48 x 42 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid
	Villa Medici, Pavillion of Ariadné 1630 Oil on canvas, 44 x 38 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid