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	File Info	Comment
	The Waterseller of Seville 1623 Oil on canvas, 106,7 x 81 cm Wellington Museum, Apsley House, London	900*1203 True Color 122 Kb
	The Waterseller of Seville (detail) 1623 Oil on canvas Wellington Museum, Apsley House, London	759*927 True Color 95 Kb
	A Young Man (detail) 1623-24 Oil on canvas, 56 x 38 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	570*839 True Color 65 Kb
	Philip IV 1624-27 Oil on canvas, 210 x 102 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	652*1313 True Color 92 Kb
	Infante Don Carlos 1626-27 Oil on canvas, 209 x 125 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	585*996 True Color 96 Kb
	Head of a Stag 1626-27 Oil on canvas, 66,5 x 52,5 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	750*957 True Color 116 Kb
	Philip IV in Armour c. 1628 Oil on canvas, 58 x 44,5 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	800*1078 True Color 106 Kb
	Democritus 1628-29 Oil on canvas, 101 x 81 cm Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Céramique, Rouen	700*897 True Color 69 Kb
	Young Man c. 1629 Oil on canvas, 89 x 69 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich	698*900 True Color 51 Kb
	The Triumph of Bacchus (Los Borrachos, The Topers) c. 1629 Oil on canvas, 165 x 225 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	1315*950 True Color 153 Kb
	The Forge of Vulcan 1630 Oil on canvas, 223 x 290 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	1259*1000 True Color 151 Kb
	Study for the head of Apollo 1630 Oil on canvas, 36,3 x 25,2 cm Private collection	650*980 True Color 167 Kb
	Joseph's Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob 1630 Oil on canvas, 223 x 250 cm Monasterio de San Lorenzo, El Escorial	1299*1000 True Color 166 Kb
	Joseph's Bloody Coat Brought to Jacob (detail) 1630 Oil on canvas Monasterio de San Lorenzo, El Escorial	1213*770 True Color 166 Kb
	Infanta Doña María, Queen of Hungary 1630 Oil on canvas, 60 x 46 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	800*1083 True Color 102 Kb
	Villa Medici, Grotto-Loggia Façade 1630 Oil on canvas, 48 x 42 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	850*1008 True Color 156 Kb
	Villa Medici, Pavillion of Ariadné 1630 Oil on canvas, 44 x 38 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid	850*1023 True Color 195 Kb